Lot 3114. A large and very rare purple-splashed Jun bowl, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234); 9 in. (23 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 4,000,000 - HKD 6,000,000 (USD 518,208 - USD 777,313). Price realised HKD 4,860,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014.

The large bowl is covered overall with a pale sky-blue glaze, applied liberally on the exterior with large splashes of purple, the unglazed foot ring revealing the purplish-brown body, box.

Provenance: Acquired in Taipei in the 1980s

Notes: The current bowl appears to be unique as no other Jun bowls of this size and form appear to have been published. A related Jun blue-glazed bowl of slightly larger size (25.4 cm. diam.) was found in the Shigu hoard in Henan province, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China: Henan, vo. 12, Beijing, 2008, no. 161. The Shigu hoard example has a very subtle waist around the mouth and a straight foot ring. The well-articulated waist and spreading foot as seen on the present bowl are likely to be developments from the Shigu hoard example.

Jun bowls of this large size are more commonly found without the waisted mouth such as a Jun blue-glazed bowl of slightly smaller size (22 cm. diam.) illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji: Junyao, vol. 12, Shanghai, 1983, no. 1.; and with fluted sides and conforming bracket-lobed rim, such as a blue-glazed example also from the Shigu hoard, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China: Henan, op.cit., no. 162 and a green-glazed example in this sale, lot 3115. Compare also to a large purple-splashed Jun bowl of later date sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 3309.

Lot 3309. A large Jun purple-splashed bowl, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1279-1644). Price Realised HKD 400,000 (USD 51,719) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 3309. © Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics From The Yangdetang Collection, 30 November 2016, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall