Lot 69. A Longquan celadon-glazed 'double fish' barbed-rim dish, 14th century. 41cm (13 6/8in) diam. Estimate £3,000 - 5,000. Sold for £8,125 (€9,194). Photo: Bonhams.

Thickly potted and of shallow concave shape, with fluted walls curving up to a wide, everted rim, moulded with bracket lobes depicting blossoming lotus surrounding a circular well decorated with a double fish design, covered all over in a thick, light, sea-green glaze, the underside with an unglazed ring burnt orange from firing.

Provenance: Francesco Maria, Marchese Taliani de Marchio (1887 - 1968), Grand Officer of the Italian Crown, Commander of the Order of St Maurice and Lazarus, and Commander of the Order of Pius IX (Ordine Piano), and his wife Archduchess Maragaretha d'Austria Toscana, Marchesa Taliani de Marchio (1894 – 1986). 
Acquired from Tung Koo Tsar Chinese Curios & Arts Co., Shanghai on 6 March 1940.

Note: The fish is a highly auspicious motif in Chinese art, symbolising wealth but also marriage, fertility and abundance, due to its reproductive success. The fish is also symbolic of high rank and during the Tang dynasty, officials of the fifth rank and above wore fish ornaments. 

Compare with a Longquan celadon-glazed dish, Yuan dynasty, of a similar size and 'double-fish' decoration, which was sold at Sotheby's, 18 March 2017, lot 1103.

A 'Longquan' celadon-glazed and biscuit-decorated dish, Yuan dynasty. Diameter 13 1/4  in., 33.6 cm. Sold for 8,750 USD at Sotheby's, 18 March 2017, lot 1103. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 9 Nov 2017, 10:30 GMT.LONDON, NEW BOND STREET