Lot 15. A rare Dingyao spittoon, zhadou, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 22cm (8 5/8in) diam. Estimate £ 3,000 - £ 5,000. Sold for £ 175,062 (€ 193,588). Courtesy Bonhams.

Thinly potted with a compressed globular body incised around the exterior with stylised lotus petals, the waisted neck surmounted by a wide flared mouth carved with further floral motifs, covered overall in a creamy-white glaze of ivory tone.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art, London
Professor Conrad Harris, UK, acquired from the above on 30 April 2002.

Note: Conrad Harris became interested in Chinese pottery in the late 1990s, around the time he retired as Professor of General Practice at Leeds University. Having moved from a career in medical academia, he took an academic approach to learning about the styles and artefacts of different periods, from the Neolithic to the great dynasties of China. Harris was a highly erudite collector, who travelled extensively in China, pursuing his interest in ancient pottery wares through many provincial museums. He gave regular lectures and, in 2002, gained a Diploma in Asian Art from the British Museum. He was an active member of the Oriental Ceramics Society and in the 2003/04 Oriental Ceramic Society Transactions, he contributed the lecture 'Chinese ceramic horses and how they changed'. Most importantly, he gained immense pleasure from seeing his collection take pride of place on the shelves all around his study.

Dingyao zhadou vessels of this form are rare with very few published examples. See a related 'Ding' zhadou, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly carved with lotus flowers borne on an undulating scroll on the wide rim but with a truncated cylindrical body, illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, Shanghai, 1999, vol.7, Part 11, no.20.

It is possible that the present lot is emulating a piece from the 'Yue' kilns in the south. See the 10th-11th century 'Yue' zhadou of similar form, with globular body carved with upright lotus petals and a wide rim incised with lotus scroll, in the collection of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Vol.12, Tokyo, 1977, pls.41-42.Zhadou of this form also exist in slightly later Qingbai wares. Compare with a Qingbai spittoon, Northern Song dynasty, in the Kai Yin Lo Collection, illustrated in Bright as Silver, White as Snow, Hong Kong, 1998, pl.29.