Lot 3078. A celadon-glazed and gilt-embellished mallow-shaped washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 14.3 cm., 5 5/8 in. Estimate 700,000 — 900,000 HKD. Lot sold 875,000 HKD (82,374 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's

finely potted to resemble a ten-lobed mallow blossom, the sides rising from a lobed base to a correponding rim, covered overall in an even celadon glaze thinning on the interior ridges of the lobes, the cavetto decorated in gilt with a pagoda and a pavilion set amidst a mountainous landscape, the exterior with a lotus scroll, the rim bordered with gilt, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark in two horizontal lines within a recessed circular panel.

Note: A closely related example, of slightly smaller size, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Imperial ceramics of the Qing dynasty], Beijing, 2005, pl. 110. A plain celadon glazed washer of this type was included in the exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 76; and another, with a gilt-metal rim, from the E.T. Hall collection, was sold at Christie’s London, 7th June 2004, lot 234. See also a related washer covered overall with a lavender glaze, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 217.

Sotheby’s. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 April 2014