with delicate rounded sides rising from a short foot to a gently flared rim, the lower section of the exterior decorated in shallow relief with a band of petal lappets enclosing ruyi motifs radiating from above the foot, applied overall save for the base with a translucent celadon glaze pooling in the recessed area above the foot and thinning to white at the rim and raised lappet border, the white base centred with an underglaze-blue six-character reign mark within a double square; 12.4 cm, 4 7/8  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 24th/25th November 1981, lot 335.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York.

Note: This bowl is notable for its carved petals which emerge under a soft celadon glaze, and appears to draw inspiration from qingbai and shufu wares of the Song and Yuan dynasties. Bowls of this design are rare although a closely related example was sold in our London rooms, 18th November 1998, lot 869; and a pair, from the collection of Stephen Junkunc III, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2008, lot 637.

This bowl belongs to a special group of bowls and dishes of various forms, decorated with varying design bands carved above the foot or around the middle of the exterior. These were made on the order of the Qing court to cater for the emperor’s sophisticated taste and fondness for elegant monochrome porcelains that were inspired by ancient celebrated wares. Compare a celadon-glazed lipped bowl, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, included in the museum’s memorial exhibition The Charles B. Hoyt Collection, Boston, 1952, cat. no. 440; another, from the Hall Family Collection, sold twice in our New York rooms, in 1977 and 1978, and twice in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 527, and again, 8th October 2013, lot 3125; another celadon-glazed example carved with a scrolling band of peonies and feathery leaves, from the Hall Family Collection and sold in our London rooms, 16th May 2012, lot 168; and another, moulded with a band of the bajixiang, sold twice in these rooms, 22nd May 1985, lot 213, and 29th April 1997, lot 570.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art from Two American Private Collections, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017, 10:30 AM