Lot 2955. A carved Longquan celadon 'Floral' bowl, Yongle-Xuande period (1403-1435); 8 in. (20.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 150,000 - HKD 240,000. Price realised HKD 250,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The bowl has deep rounded sides carved on the exterior with composite floral scrolls, including lotus, pomegranate and peony blossoms, and the interior is carved with another floral scroll with the same flowers encircling a gardenia spray at the centre. The glaze is of a pale olive-green tone, Japanese box. 

Kawahara Family Collection, inventory no. 85, a collection formed in the 19th and early 20th century. 

Note: The carved decoration on this bowl relates closely to the designs found on blue and white bowls that were produced at the same time during the early Ming period. There are numerous examples of Yongle and Xuande porcelain bowls with dense lotus scrolls or composite floral scrolls on the exterior and on the interior encircling a central floral medallion. One such example is the Yongle bowl illustrated by J. A. Pope, Chinese Porcelain from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington D.C., 1956, pl. 47.

Compare also to an early-Ming Longquan example with classic scrolls below the rim is in the collection of Seikado Bunko Art Musuem, Tokyo, illustrated in Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, Japan, 2012, p. 82, pl. 93.