the gently rounded sides rising to a metal-bound rim, the center incised with a freely-drawn lotus seed pod and furled leaves within an incised medallion, the cavetto decorated with stylized lotus blossoms, Japanese wood box (4). 

Provenance: Japanese Private Collection.

Note: While the lotus is a common motif on Ding wares, it is very rare to find wares decorated with the plant depicted in all three stages of growth— seed, leaves, and blossom. The present piece is finely and freely carved, adding to its sense of refined spontaneity reminiscent of Song dynasty lotus paintings. Compare a bowl with a leafy lotus scroll extending across the interior supporting a seed pod at the top, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 163. See also a bowl with similar motifs, albeit larger and more elaborately carved, formerly in the collection of William Cleverley Alexander, sold in our London rooms 6th May 1931, lot 48, and recently at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2020, lot 3001.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 17 march 2021