Lot 1, A fine ‘Ding’ foliate ‘lotus’ dish, Song dynasty. Estimate 250,000 — 350,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,240,000 HKD  (252,877 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.

the shallow concave base supported on a neatly trimmed foot, rising to wide flaring sides and a hexa-lobed rim, the interior freely carved with a leafy bouquet bearing three lotus blooms, covered overall in a creamy ivory glaze, falling into characteristic teardrops to the exterior, the rim bound with copper; 20.7 cm, 8 1/8  in.

Provenance: Collection of Frederick T. Fuller, until 1965. 
Christie’s London, 28th/29th June 1965, lot 277 (1000 gns). 
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1965 (1000 gns.).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1965 (£1500). 

Notes: ‘Ding’ wares made in Quyang, Hebei province ranks among the Five Great Wares of the Song dynasty (960-1279) and are one of the most famous types of Chinese ceramics. This dish features a most representative and elegant form of ‘Ding’ wares. A dish of similar size and decoration, but with plain rim, was sold at Christie’s London, 8th December 1986, lot 232, and again in our New York rooms, 23rd March 2011, lot 513, as part of a private collection of Song ceramics. A dish of similar form without decoration, from the J.T. Tai collection, was sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2011, lot 294. Two other undecorated ‘Ding’ dishes of similar form excavated from the clan cemetery of the famous Northern Song connoisseur and scholar Lu Dalin (1038-1093) were exhibited at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology, Peking University, 2013, see Yishi tong diao [A tone through ages, Fine relics unearthed from the cemetery of the Lu Clan in Lantian, Shaanxi province], Beijing, 2013, cat. nos. 30-31.

Sotheby's. The Pilkington Collection of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 06 Apr 2016, 10:00 AM