Lot 246, A molded 'Yaozhou' bowl, Northern Song dynasty. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

with rounded sides rising from a short foot, the interior molded in shallow relief with two large peony blooms borne on densely scrolling foliage, all under a transparent olive-green glaze pooling to a darker green in the recesses. Diameter 7 1/2  in., 19.2 cm

Note: A similar bowl in the Art Institute of Chicago was included in the exhibition Ice and Green Clouds. Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1986, cat. no. 61, where it is noted that fragments from bowls molded with peonies of the same beehive-form were unearthed at Huangbaozhen, ibid, p. 158. Compare also a bowl of this type sold in our London rooms, 13th December 1988, lot 119, and another sold at Christie's London, 7th November 2006, lot 148.