Lot 103. Two moulded and inscribed Yaozhou conical bowls, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm.); 5 in. (12.5 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 50,000 - HKD 80,000 (USD 6,469 - USD 10,351) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The first bowl is moulded with a single spray of peony, the blossom upholding a plaque inscribed with the characters Da guan, ‘flourishing’, covered with a glaze of deep greyisholive tone; the other bowl is moulded with a phoenix grasping in its beak a large lotus spray enclosing a cartouche inscribed with the characters Gao Jia, ‘Gao Family’, applied with a glaze of deep sea-green tone.

Note: Compare to a Yaozhou bowl sharing the same Da guan mark and design, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 October 2002, lot 687. A Yaozhou shard bearing these two characters is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, p. 221, fig. 76. Another bowl, moulded with the same Gao Jia inscription and design, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 38.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale - Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 4 April 2017, Hong Kong