A blue and white bowl, Xuande Mark and period - Photo Sotheby's

the deep gently rounded sides rising from a straight foot, the exterior painted with an undulating lotus scroll, framed above and below by stylised foliate bands, the interior with a central medallion enclosing wavy foliate motifs, bordered by a composite floral scroll just below the rim, the base inscribed with a six-character Xuande mark within a double-circle; 15.4cm., 6 1/8 in. Estimation: 80,000 - 120,000 GBP

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The present bowl is an extremely rare example of Xuande mark and period vessels of this shape and decoration. Painted in a soft blue with a distinct 'heaping and piling' effect of darker-burnt spots of cobalt that is characteristic of the period, the piece stands out for its rarety as well as its elegant shape and rich decoration. Only two other closely related bowls are known, both in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum. Hsuan-te Ware I, Taipei, 2000, pls. 105 and 106.

See a slightly larger bowl with comparable shallow foot ring, the interior painted with six blooms on scrolling lotus and the exterior with two bands of slender lotus petals below a similar wave band as seen on this bowl, excavated at Zhushan in 1984 and included in the Chang Foundation exhibition, Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 107; and another bowl of this type in the National Palace Museum included in the museum's Special Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 154

Sotheby's. Treasures of the Qing Court, A Personal Perspective. London | 07 nov. 2012 www.sothebys.com