Lot 106. A rare yellow-ground green-enameled 'cloud scroll' bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722); Diameter 5¼ in., 13.3 cm. Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD. © 2020 Sotheby's

the gently rounded shallow sides resting on a straight foot and sweeping to a delicately everted rim, the exterior with evenly staggered cruciform cloud scrolls, each finely outlined in slip and picked out in vibrant emerald green, above a border of slip-decorated lappets, all against a translucent egg-yolk yellow ground, the interior and recessed base glazed white, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle. 

Note: Although yellow-ground green-enameled bowls from the Kangxi reign are not uncommon, it is extremely rare to find such a design of cloud scrolls outlined in slip. Finely delineated, the slip detailing presents another technical challenge that the potter has successfully mastered. 

A pair of similar bowls sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 287. Another pair with deeper sides sold in our London rooms, 10th November 2004, lot 667. Compare a similar bowl but with aubergine clouds on a green ground, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 108. See another bowl with deeper sides, enameled with green clouds on a yellow ground but lacking the slip decoration, in the collection of the Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, as shown on their website

Sotheby's. Kangxi Porcelain - A Private Collection. Live Auction: 22 September 2020 • 3:00 PM CEST • New York