Provenance: Acquired from Edward T. Chow (1910-80) in the late 1960s.

Note: The form of the present box, modelled after ingots, is highly unusual. The production of wares of this shape began in the Jiajing period (1522-1566) and continued in the Wanli reign (1573-1620), but extant examples are relatively rare.

See a closely related covered box, in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, Fribourg, 1978, pl. 213; one in the Baur Collection, published in John Ayers, The Baur Collection. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 2, Geneva, 1969, pl. A187; another included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art from the Newark Museum, China Institute in America, New York, 1980, cat. no. 26. See also an example sold in our London rooms, 12th May 2010, lot 12 and another from the T.Y. Chao Collection, sold in these rooms, 30th November 2017, lot 315.

Sotheby's. An Important European Collection of Chinese Ceramics - Acquired from Edward T. Chow, Hong Kong, 9 April 2024