Lot 87. A purple-splashed 'Jun' 'bubble' bowl, Song dynasty, 9cm., 3 1/2 in. Estimate 25,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 32,450 GBP.  Photo: Sotheby's.

the deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to an incurved rim, covered overall with a rich glossy lavender-blue glaze suffused with irregular purple and dark blue splashes to the interior and exterior, the glaze falling short of the foot to reveal the dark brown body

Provenance: J.J. Lally, New York.

Note: Purple-splashed 'Jun' bowls of this classic Northern Song shape are remarkable for their understated elegance, offset by splendid colouration which displays a range of blue and lavender tones. Its vibrant colours, glossy glaze and rounded shape create the illusion of a soap bubble, which gave these bowls the name 'bubble bowl'.

Two 'Jun' splashed bubble bowls from the Edward T. Chow collection, amongst the best extant examples, were sold in these rooms, 16th December 1980, lots 264 and 265, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, the former, 19th May 1980, lot 209, and the latter, 7th June 2000, lot 93. Further examples sold at auction include one from the Schoenlicht and H.M. Knight collections, sold in these rooms, 13th December 1955, lot 76, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 18th May 1982, lot 109, now in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo; and two sold in these rooms, one from the collections of Richard Bennett and George Eumorfopoulos, 9th November 2006, lot 55, and the other, 12th June 2003, lot 107.