A fine and rare White-glazed Beehive Waterpot, Taibo zun. Kangxi mark and period. photo Sotheby's

the domed hemispherical body rising from a recessed base to a short waisted neck, finely moulded and carved with three dragon and phoenix medallions, applied overall with a milky-white glaze pooling to a slightly darker tone in the recesses of the carving, the base inscribed with a six-character Kangxi mark in underglaze-blue; 13cm., 5 1/8 in. Lot 171. Estimation 80,000-120,000 GBP. 

PROVENANCE: The Koger Collection.
Marchant, London, 30th September 2005.

EXHIBITED: The Jacksonville Art Museum, 1973.

LITTERATURE: J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London and New York, 1985, no. 139.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Beehive waterpots of this type are well-known with peach-bloom glazes but are rare in other colours. A closely related example from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 228; one from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 111; another from the Riesco collection, illustrated in Edgar E. Bluett, The Riesco Collection of Old Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. 61 (right), was sold in these rooms, 11th December 1984, lot 430; and a fourth example exhibited on loan at Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, from the collection of Mrs Yale Kneeland, was sold in our New York rooms, 1st June 1994, lot 371, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 26th April 1999, lot 507.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Londres | 16 mai 2012, 10:00 AM www.sothebys.com