A rare blue and white 'fruit' bowl. Mark and Period of Xuande. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's

solidly potted with shallow rounded sides, the exterior painted in rich and strong cobalt blue with darker 'heaping and piling' effect with a composite flower scroll, including lotus, chrysanthemum, rose, tree peony, pomegranate, hibiscus, camellia, and herbaceous peony, with their associated leaves and buds, between a double-line border around the rim and upright lappets skirting the base, above classic scroll encircling the foot, the interior glazed white, the six-character reign mark written in a line below the rim - 28.5cm., 11 1/2 in. - Lot Sold: 2,420,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Hans Olstrûm, Stockholm (according to label).
Sotheby's London, 6th December 1994, lot 150.

NOTE: The present piece is a fine example of the composite flowerscroll motif, which is characterised by seven different naturalistically painted flowers and their leaves, with a small bud placed above or below the larger flowers. A Xuande 'dice' bowl decorated with this floral scroll is pictured in panoramic view, illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, part II, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 26. See also a larger bowl of this pattern from the Palmer Collection, illustrated in Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1973, pl. 26A; and one from the Bernat Collection included in the exhibition, Exhibition of Ming Blue and White, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 62. A slightly smaller example is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, no. 673.

Compare also a similar bowl with peony decoration sold in these rooms, 7th May 2002, lot 565; and one decorated with fruit sprays, from the Toguri Collection, sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 16.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 08 Oct 08. Hong Kong - www.sothebys.com