An underglaze blue and polychrome enameled deep dish, Lê dynasty, 15th-16th century
Lot 873. An underglaze blue and polychrome enameled deep dish, Lê dynasty, 15th-16th century; 13 3/8in (34cm) diameter. Estimate US$ 3,000 - 5,000 (€2,500 - 4,200). Unsold. Photo: Bonhams.
The wide well centered with a depiction of a stork standing amid lotus plants drawn in cobalt outline the repeats with striping and four flower heads on the curving side walls, the decoration finished with iron red outlines and green enameled details that continue on the exterior walls and tall foot, the foot pad and recessed base left unglazed.
Published: James H. Brow and Anh Hoang Brow, 'Vietnamese Ceramics: A Ten Thousand Year Continuum,' Arts of Asia, March-April 2004, p.93, no. 33.
Note: Birds amid flowers or flowering branches outlined in cobalt and colored in red and green enamels are well-represented in the deep dishes associated with the Hoi An shipwreck cargo. See, for example lots 24, 35, and 39 offered in Butterfields sale Treasures from the Hoi An Hoard, 11-13 October, 2000. See also John Stevenson and John Guy, Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, 1997, p. 313, no. 250 for interior border decoration similar to this lot of underglaze blue flower heads amid flower and leaf scrolls drawn in iron red and green enamels.
Bonhams. FINE ASIAN WORKS OF ART, 18 Dec 2017, 11:00 PST, SAN FRANCISCO