Lot 139. A Jizhou slip-decorated 'phoenix' bowl, 13th century, 11.8cm (4 5/8in) diam.. Estimate £5,000 - 8,000 (€5,900 - 9,500). Photo: Bonhams.

The bowl with shallow rounded sides rising to an indented rim, the interior painted in buff slip with a pair of long-tailed phoenixes surrounding a stylised blossom and two butterflies, all reserved on a black ground, the exterior covered with a similar black glaze stopping above the foot to reveal the light stoneware body. 

Provenance: a French private collection

Note: Compare with a similar bowl, Southern Song/Yuan dynasty, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by R.Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, London, 2004, p.113, fig.113. Another bowl, decorated with phoenixes and butterflies, Southern Song/Yuan dynasty, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 16 March 2016, lot 208.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 11 May 2017, 11:00 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET