Lot 3292. A rare carved Longquan celadon deep bowl, Yongle-Xuande period (1403-1435); 8 3/4 in. (22 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 240,000 - HKD 320,000. Price Realized HKD 437,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The bowl is sturdily potted with deep rounded sides, the exterior carved with a dense lotus scroll above key-pattern around the foot, the interior with a similar frieze surrounding a single leafy lotus sprig in the medallion, all under an even celadon glaze with a slight yellowish tone, Japanese wood box.

Note: Compare the present lot with a similar early fifteenth-century celadon bowl from the Jack Chia Collection, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 November 1996, lot 634.

The carved decoration on this bowl relates closely to the designs found on blue and white bowls of the time. 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 from the Riesco Collection offered by Christie's Hong Kong on 27 November 2013, Sale 3266, lot 3106; another Yongle blue and white example is illustrated by John A. Pope, Chinese Porcelain from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington D.C., 1956, pl. 47 (top left).