Lot 2276. A purple-splashed Jun-glazed dish, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 1,040,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The dish has low rounded sides rising to an everted lipped rim. The interior is decorated with a purple splash suffused with hues of green. It is covered overall under a pale sky-blue glaze thinning on the raised section of the rims. The slightly recessed base bears three small spur marks, Japanese wood box.

Note: Compare to two examples of slightly larger size and with more extensive splashes, one (18.8 cm. diam.) published in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Chun Ware, 2000, p. 148, no. 56; and the other (18.5 cm. diam.) illustrated by R. Scott ed., Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, London, 1989, pl. 15. It has been noted that in areas where there is a high concentration of copper oxide, patches of malachite green are precipitated among the purple clouds, op. cit., p. 39, which also appear in the splash of the present dish. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 28 November 2012, Hong Kong.