Lot 94. A rare carved red and black lacquer 'phoenix' bowl, Song dynasty (960-1279); 8 ¼ in. (21 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000 (USD 51,240 - USD 76,860). Price realised GBP 58,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.

The bowl is supported on a short circular foot and is carved through layers of red and black lacquer with a band enclosing two phoenixes surrounded by large peony blooms. The mouth rim and foot rim are encircled with bands of classical scroll and geometric patterns. The interior and base are mounted in metal.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, Informing the Eye of the Collector: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art from J. T. Tai & Co., 22 March 2011, lot 230 (part).

Note: A visually almost identical bowl of similar size and dating with a carved lacquer stand is in the collection of the Linden Museum Stuttgart, illustrated by Klaus Joachim Brandt in Chinesische Lackarbeiten, Stuttgart, 1988, p. 67, no. 21.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 5 November 2019