A rare blue and white globular jarlet, Yongle period (1403-1424). Estimate £25,000 – £35,000 ($38,475 - $53,865). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The jarlet is decorated to the exterior with a continuous intricate floral scroll between a keyfret border to the mouth rim and a stylised foliate band to the foot. 5 in. (12.7 cm.) diam.

Notes: Globular bowls of this type were known as pure water bowls, qingshuiwan. They were used in Buddhist rituals as vessels containing sacred water used to purify the heart. Small spherical jars, although rare, were made at the imperial kilns in the early 15th century with slightly varying profiles. A more compressed vessel, dated to the Yongle reign is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 34 – Blue and White Porcelain with underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 47, no. 45). A more rounded vessel, bearing a Xuande mark is in the same collection (illustrated ibid., p. 138, no. 130). Another more spherical jar bearing a Xuande mark is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 60-1, no. 3).

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 10 November 2015, London, King Street