Lot 2536.  A Sacrificial-Red Glazed Dish, Mark and period of Xuande  (1426-1435); 20cm., 7 7/8 in. Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold. 1,700,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

the finely potted sides resting on a wedge-shaped foot and rising towards the everted rim, applied overall with a rich deep-red glaze fired to an even glossy finish stopping neatly below the mouthrim and just above the footrim, leaving the slightly raised base glazed white and inscribed with the six-character mark within a double-circle in underglaze-blue. 

Note: The finest underglaze red porcelains were made during the Xuande period, of which the present dish is a superb and rare example. The surface of this piece reveals the multiple layers applied to achieve the rich red colour. Shards from rejected porcelains have been excavated and reveal the exceptionally vigilant quality control at the kilns sites in Jingdezhen; see two examples of excavated dishes of this type included in the exhibition Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos 95-1 and 95-2.

A dish of this size and shape in the Metropolitan Museum Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 70; another is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji. Taoci, vol. 3, Shanghai, 1988, pl. 87; and a third, in the Tianminlou collection, was included in the Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary exhibition Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 153.

For a smaller dish of this type, see one in the Tianjin City Art Museum, illustrated in Tianjin shi yishu bowuguan, Tianjin, 1984, pl. 241; and another in the Shanghai Museum, included in the exhibition Chugoku rekidai toji ten, Seibu Art Museum, Tokyo, 1984, cat. no. 75. See also two examples sold in our London rooms; one from the collection of Enid and Brodie Lodge, sold 14th March 1972, lot 147; and the other from the collection of Michael Chok, sold 11th June 1996, lot 29.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Oct 08, Hong Kong