Lot 3316. A very rare white-glazed anhua-decorated foliate-rimmed bowl, Yongle incised four-character mark within a circle and of the period ( 1403-1424). Estimate HK$2,000,000 – HK$3,000,000 ($258,674 - $388,011). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The bowl is thinly potted with widely flared sides rising to a notched rim formed as six petals and finely moulded around the interior with two striding dragons and is covered inside and out with a clear white glaze except for the unglazed foot rim. 
7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam., box.

Provenance: Rare Art, New York, acquired circa 2000 

Notes: An almost identical example is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Hong Kong, 1999, p. 110-111, no. 101 (fig. 1). A second example is in the Percival David Foundation of Art, museum number PDF.400, currently housed at the British Museum, where another bowl of this type but with anhua Buddhist Emblems is also exhibited, museum number PDF. A.424. 

fig. 1 A white-glazed anhua-decorated foliate-rimmed bowl, Yongle mark and the period ( 1403-1424). Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

Christie's. THE IMPERIAL SALE / IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 1 June 2016, Convention Hall