Lot 2707. Property from The Tianminlou Collection. A rare and finely painted  doucai ‘fruit and flower’ bowl, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 16.4 cm diam. Price realised HKD 1,890,000 (Estimate: HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,200,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023.

Provenance: Collection of Edward T. Chow
Sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet (Hong Kong), The Edward T. Chow Collection: Part III, 19 May 1981, lot 430.

Literature: - Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art in association with the Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 109
- Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art in association with the Art Gallery, Hong Kong, Taipei, 1982, p.109
- Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 79
- Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 4: Ming Official Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 286
- Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics], Tokyo, 1992, p. 100, no. 99
- Sotheby’s Hong Kong –Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 124, no. 126
- Ming and Qing Polychrome Wares from the Collection of the Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1994, no. 5
- The Grandeur of Chinese Art Treasures: Min Chiu Society Golden Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong, 2010, p. 297, no. 154.

Exhibited: - The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art in association with the Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 19 December 1981 to 18 February 1982, p.109
- National Museum of History, Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art in association with the Art Gallery, Hong Kong, Taipei, 20 April-30 May 1982, p.109
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 79
- Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics], Japan, 9 April – 23 November 1992, no. 99
- Christie’s Shanghai, Ming and Qing Polychrome Wares from the Collection of the Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 23-25 April 1994, no.5
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, The Grandeur of Chinese Art Treasures: Min Chiu Society Golden Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong, 25 September 2010 – 2 January 2011, no. 154.

Note: Bowls of this type, delightfully decorated with sprays of flowers and fruits with the doucai technique, are based on Chenghua prototypes such as the Chenghua bowl from the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Enamelled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book I, Hong Kong, 1966, pl. 5.

Wanli bowls of this design are exceedingly rare. One known example is also in the National Palace Museum, illustrated ibid., Book III, pl. 13.