A Purple-Splashed 'Jun' bubble bowl, Song Dynasty. Photo Sotheby"s

well-potted with gently rounded sides slightly curved in at the rim, resting on a neatly finished foot of wedge-shaped section, the smoothly rounded interior applied with a rich milky-blue glaze suffused with bubbles and applied with two vivid purple splashes, thinning at the rim to a buff tone and stopping in an uneven line above the foot to reveal the chocolate-brown body. Diameter 3 3/8 in., 8.6 cm. Estimate 50,000-70,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Collection of Millicent Rogers (1902 - 1953).

NOTE: The present bowl of classic Northern Song form is exquisite for its rich thick glaze and bright coloration that displays a range of blue and lavender tones. The purple splashes form the illusion of soap bubbles, hence the name given to vessels of this type 'bubble bowls'.

Compare two famous 'Jun' bubble bowls formerly in the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lots 264 and 265, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, the former on 19th May 1987, lot 209, and later in the collection of T.T. Tsui; the latter on 7th June 2000, lot 93. Another related bowl from the collection of Sir Percival David and now in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Margaret Medley, The Chinese Potter, Oxford, 1976, fig. 83.

The Palace Museum in Beijing also has a similar bowl in its collection published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 225; while further two examples can be found in the Baur Collection in Geneva, included in John Ayers, The Baur Collection. Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1969, nos. A31 and A32.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 20 Mar 2012 www.sotheby's.com