A Rare Pair Of Ming-Style Underglaze Blue Iron-Red-Ground Dishes. Qianlong Seal Marks And Period. Photo Sotheby's

each painted in cobalt blue on the interior with simulated 'heaping and piling' with a bouquet of ribbon-tied lotus and water weeds, the cavetto with composite floral scrolls and a band of classic scroll at the rim, the exterior with a repeated floral scroll and a key-fret border just below the rim, reserved on a rich iron-red ground leaving the rim and base white, seal mark in underglaze blue (2). Diameter 4 1/2 in., 11.4 cm. Estimation: 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot. Vendu 122,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Christie's Swire Hong Kong, 24th October 1993, lot 831.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: It is extremely rare to find dishes of this pattern reserved on iron-red grounds, though these can be found reserved on yellow grounds. See, for example, the Qianlong-marked dish with similar pattern but of larger size illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S.C Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, vol. I, pl. 109

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sotheby's.com