An Unusual Pair Of Blue And White Stem Bowls. Jiajing Period (1522-1566). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The exterior of each bowl is decorated with a procession of scholars and attendants, including one carrying a qin, in a landscape punctuated by a pine tree on one side and terminating at a pavilion on the opposite side, where another scholar awaits their arrival. The pedestal foot is encircled by four ruyi-shaped clouds, and the interior has a figural medallion below a band ofruyi heads at the rim. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam. (2). Estimate $20,000 - $30,000

明嘉靖　　　　青花人物圖高足盌一對

Provenance: Collection of George Rowley, Professor of Art History, Princeton University, acquired in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Notes: Compare the very similar stem bowl, also dated to the Jiajing period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 35 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 161, no. 150. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part II, 13 September 2012. New York, Rockefeller Plaza