Lot 5036. A rare blue and white 'peony and phoenix' jar, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 52.8 cm. Estimate 3,000,000 - 6,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 4,064,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

superbly painted in rich tones of cobalt blue accented with 'heaping and piling', the central register adorned with a broad scroll of six large peony blooms, each rendered in full, luxuriant detail borne on a meandering leafy stem, above a classic scroll and a band of upright lotus lappets around the foot, the shoulders encircled by a register depicting on each side with a phoenix soaring amidst scrolling lotus, between a diapered band and a lappet border enclosing auspicious emblems.

Provenance: Christie's London, 10th December 1990, lot 163.
Hirano Kotoken.

Literature: Chugoku Toji Ise Korekushon [Chinese ceramics. The Ise collection], Tokyo, 2012, pp. 55-57.

Exhibited: Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 46.

Note: Adorned with graceful peony scrolls and soaring phoenixes, the present jar is a superb example of the marvellous blue-and-white wares produced at the height of the Yuan dynasty. From the varied tone of its fine underglaze blue decoration to its imposing bulbous form, each feature of this piece speaks of the hand of a long-forgotten master – immortalised forever in this remarkable work of art.

Thrown and glazed in Jingdezhen in the 14th century, this jar was among the first wares produced in China in the now ubiquitous blue-and-white palette. In what scholars have dubbed the ‘Mongol Corporation,’ Kublai Khan and his Yuan dynasty built upon and expanded the Silk Road like never before. Introducing paper currency and an early form of passports, the Emperor and his court empowered merchants to travel the length and breadth of the vast empire, from China to Europe, and bring with them priceless goods including silk, livestock and – crucially for our purposes – cobalt.

This blue mineral, once considered as rare and valuable as gold, had long been used as a pigment in Islamic ceramics but rose to even greater heights on its arrival in China. Although some earlier blue-and-white wares from the Tang dynasty had exploited small cobalt deposits in Henan Province, it was not until the Yuan dynasty that the finest cobalt, imported from Persia, became available and gained its famed status in China. Featuring detailed decorations in a luscious variegated blue tone, the present jar exemplifies what became possible with the advent of cobalt: lifelike shading and brushwork reminiscent of ink painting, rendered in a rich enchanting blue.

This type of large jar, primarily produced for export, also found significant domestic use in China, as evidenced by archaeological findings. Compare a jar housed in the Shanghai Museum, decorated with phoenixes and peonies and sharing the same form but set with animal mask embellishments on the shoulder, illustrated in Yulan Shencai. Yuandai Qinghua Ciqi Teji / Splendors in Smalt. Art of Yuan Blue-and-White Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, cat. no. 8. Compare also another related jar, once part of the esteemed Meiyintang collection, showcasing comparable artistic element, illustrated in Regina Krahl's Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994-2010, no. 640, and later sold in these rooms on 7 April 2013, lot 17.

Lot 5037. A rare blue and white 'dragon' stem cup, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); d. 13 cm; h. 11.5 cm. Estimate 4,000,000 - 8,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 4,445,010 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

the wide, flared cup with rounded sides, supported on a hollow splayed stem with horizontal bamboo-node ridges emphasised by incised lines, the interior crisply moulded around the well with two four-clawed dragons striding among flames, set around a central medallion painted with a chrysanthemum spray within a moulded double-line border, all under a classic scroll at the rim, the exterior decorated in underglaze blue with a single three-clawed dragon with wide open jaws, a slender undulating body, and scales finely detailed by cross-hatching, the interior of the stem and footring left unglazed, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Hirano Kotoken.

Literature: Fujio Koyama, ed., Sekai Toji Zenshu [Ceramic Art of the World], vol 11: Gen Min [Yuan Ming], Tokyo, 1955, pl. 2.

Ryoichi Fujioka, Toki Zenshu [The Complete Works of Ceramics], vol.11: Gen Minsho no Sometsuke [Blue and White in Yuan and Early Ming]. Tokyo, 1960, pl. 3.

Hasebe Rakuji, Chugoku no Toji 11 Chugoku no Sometsuke [Chinese Ceramics 11 Chinese Blue and White], Nihon Bijutsu Kogei [A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Study of Works on Far Eastern Art], vol: 348, September 1967, p. 86.

Sato Masahiko, ed., Toki Koza [Lecture of Ceramics], vol. 7: Chugoku III Gen Min [China III Yuan Ming], Tokyo, 1971, pls 10-11.

Yabe Yoshiaki, Toji Taikei [Compendium of Ceramics], vol. 41: Gen no Sometsuke [Blue and white ware of Yuan], Tokyo, 1974, pls 62-63.

Osaka Municipal Museum of Art ed., So Gen no Bijutsu [Arts in Song and Yuan dynasties], Tokyo, 1980, pl. 45.

Tsugio Mikami, ed., Sekai Toji Zenshu [Ceramic Art of the World], vol. 13: Ryo Kin Gen [Liao, Chin and Yuan Dynasties], Tokyo, 1981, pl. 119.

Hirano Kotoken Soritsu 50 Shunen Kinen Kotoken Senka [50th Anniversary of Hirano Kotoken: Masterpieces from Hirano Kotoken], Hirano Kotoken, 1988, pl. 67.

Chugoku Toji Ise Korekushon [Chinese ceramics. The Ise collection], Tokyo, 2012, pp. 52-53.

Geijutsu Shincho [A Monthly Japanese Art Journal], May 2012 (Supplement), fig. 6.

Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 20.

Exhibited: Chugoku Toji Gen Ming Meihinten [Chinese Ceramics from the Yuan - Ming Dynasties], Japan Ceramic Society, Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1956, cat. no. 65.

Chugoku Meito Hyaku-sen / A Loan Exhibition of One Hundred Selected Masterpieces from Collections in Japan, England, France and America, Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1960, cat. no. 68.

Chugoku So Gen Bijutsu Ten [Chinese Art of the Sung and Yuan periods], Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1961, cat. no. 295.

Toyo no sometsuke [Far Eastern Blue and White Porcelain], Mitsukoshi (Nihonbashi), Tokyo, 1977, cat. no. 14.

So Gen no Bijutsu [Art of the Song and Yuan Dynasties], Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, vol. 4, 1978, cat. no. 1-254.

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 45.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 33.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 39.

Note: Yuan dynasty blue and white stem cups of this type are held in important museums and private collections; see an example in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 12; another in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1975,1028.4); and two further examples from the collections of Mrs Otto Harriman and Lord Cunliffe, respectively, included in the exhibition Chinese Blue and White Porcelain: 14th to 19th Centuries, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1953-4, cat. nos 11 and 12. 

For auction examples, see one formerly in the collection of Stephen Junkunc III (1905-1978), first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 718, and again in these rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot 106; another with illustrious provenance from the collections of R.H.R. Palmer, Tsui Museum of Art, Meiyintang, sold several times at auction and in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 17, and subsequently entered the Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection.

See also related excavated examples, including a 'dragon' and three 'phoenix' stem bowls unearthed from a Yuan city site in Inner Mongolia, illustrated in Chen Yongzhi ed., Porcelain Unearthed from Jininglu Ancient City Site in Inner Mongolia, Beijing, 2004, pls 42-44 and 46, and in situ, p. 12; another excavated from the tomb of Wang Xingzu, datable to the 4th year of Hongwu (1371), and now preserved in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 33; and a further example preserved in the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, included in the exhibition Yuan and Ming Blue and White Ware from Jiangxi, Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Nanchang, 2002, cat. no. 15.

Lot 5039. A blue and white 'fish' charger, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 47 cm. Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,270,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

potted with rounded sides rising from a low foot to a flat everted rim, the interior painted in deep cobalt blue with a large mandarin fish swimming among water-weed, clover fern and other aquatic plants, encircled on the cavetto by a lotus scroll below a diaper border on the rim, the exterior with an undulating lotus scroll, Japanese wood box.

Lot 5037. A fine and rare blue and white dish, Ming dynasty, Hongwu period (1368-1398); 19.5 cm. Estimate 1,200,000 - 2,400,000 HKD, Lot sold 5,334,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

well potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flat everted rim, finely painted in shaded tones of cobalt accented with 'heaping and piling' with a central medallion enclosing a peony spray, encircled by six chrysanthemum blooms borne on a undulating leafy scroll, all within a keyfret band at the rim, the underside with a lotus lappet border, the base unglazed and burnt orange in firing, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: Collection of Jean-Pierre Dubosc (1903-1988).

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: Tosetsu [A Monthly Journal Published by The Japan Ceramic Society], vol. 231, June 1972 (Mayuyama & Co., Ltd ad).

Yabe Yoshiaki, Toji Taikei [Compendium of Ceramics]: Gen no Sometsuke [Blue and White Ware of Yuan], vol. 41, Tokyo, 1974, pls 72 and 73. 

Mayuyama: Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 714.

Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 21.

Exhibited: Mostra d'Arte Cinese / Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no.

607.

Chugoku Toji Meiho Ten [Important Treasures of Chinese Ceramics], Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 1966.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 31.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 40.

Toujikyokai Kaiin Gentei Dainikai Tokubetsu Kanshokai Ise Collection Chugoku Toji To, Hokuso, Nanso, Gen, Min, Shin [Special exhibition for the members of The Japan Ceramic Society, Part 2, Chinese Porcelains from Ise Collection; Tang, Northern Song, Southern Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing], Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, 2019, unillustrated.

Note: This blue-and-white dish exhibits a profound and luminous cobalt hue, radiating a vibrant and spirited charm. Such a high-quality Hongwu-period blue-and-white piece is truly exceptional.

The centre of the dish is adorned with six scrolling chrysanthemum blossoms, their leaves elegantly curling in a dynamic yet harmonious composition, rendered with fluid and graceful brushwork. The reverse side features a band of lotus petal motifs, a legacy of Yuan dynasty aesthetics that heralded the golden age of Yongle and Xuande blue-and-white porcelain.

The chrysanthemum design at the centre, characterised by its oval-shaped blossoms, is referred to as "flat chrysanthemum" (bian juhua), a signature decorative motif of the Hongwu era that further enhances the piece’s period distinction. This work not only embodies the transitional artistry between Yuan and Ming porcelain but also foreshadows the brilliance of early Ming ceramic mastery.

Blue-and-white wares of the Hongwu period are rarer than their copper-red counterparts, which have been attributed to the scarcity of imported cobalt as a result of strictly regulated foreign trade. A large number of Hongwu period porcelains were discovered at Jingdezhen in the 1990s, including cobalt-decorated pieces. According to Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, pt. 1, London, 2012, p. 52, this indicates that many experiments were made, probably with local cobalt, but with very unsatisfactory results. See also an example in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (accession no. 1954.475), where the cobalt appears notably less vibrant than the present piece; and another from the collections of Parfitt and R.H.R. Palmer, sold twice in our London rooms, 8th February 1946, lot 40; and again on 27th November 1962, lot 14.

Lot 5040. A fine and rare small blue and white barbed dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1402-1424); 20 cm. Estimate 3,000,000 - 6,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 5,334,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

the flat dish painted in inky-washes of vivid cobalt blue on the interior with a central medallion enclosing two peaches borne on a leafy stem, framed by a collar of radiating petals and a wreath of scrolling peony, the well divided into eight fluted panels, each painted with a single lotus spray, below a sharply everted barbed rim with a band of detached floral sprigs, the exterior with various floral sprays between line borders, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939), coll. no. C.151.

Collection of Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark, coll. no. 797.

Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974.

Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), Hong Kong.

Collection of T.Y. Chao Family Trust, no. 17.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1999, lot 314.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Acquired from the above in 1999.

Literature: Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, pp. 58-59.

Tosetsu / A Monthly Journal Published by the Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 803, March 2020, pl. 5.

Exhibited: Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974, cat. no. 7.

Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 18.

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 47. 

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 42.

Toujikyokai Kaiin Gentei Dainikai Tokubetsu Kanshokai Ise collection Chugoku Toji To, Hokuso, Nanso, Gen, Min, Shin [Special Exhibition for the members of The Japan Ceramic Society, Part 2, Chinese Porcelains from Ise Collection; Tang, Northern Song, Southern Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing], Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, 2019, unillustrated.

Note: This dish shows the exquisite beauty and superior quality of blue-and-white porcelain from the Yongle period (1403-1424), considered the pinnacle of underglaze cobalt blue decoration. Under court supervision, the imperial porcelain kilns at Jingdezhen significantly enhanced their production techniques, transitioning from the more erratic processes of the preceding Hongwu reign (1368-1398) to a reliable standard with a distinct identity, leading to highly revered ceramic wares.

The dish exemplifies Yongle blue-and-white characteristics perfectly: it features a bluish glaze tint, bright cobalt blue decoration, and the distinctive 'heaping and piling' effect where iron-rich pigment fires through the glaze to create blackish spots. The barbed shape and the painted floral design are typical of this era, representing enhancements over the Hongwu prototypes.

The Yongle period saw a softening in the form of the dish, with a broader, thinner rim compared to the sharp, angular designs of the Hongwu period. The decoration became livelier and less formal, with dynamic floral patterns like the gracefully painted peonies and swirling lotus sprays on this dish, underscored by a floral border that adds to the sense of flourishment. Compare a Hongwu example with the style, in Palace Museum, Beijing , illustrated in Imperial Porcelains from the reign of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2015, pl. 31.

Compare two dishes of this design, Yongle period, featuring small floral sprigs, create a distinct visual effect. One, from the collections of Richard Bryant Hobart and F. Gordon Morrill, was exhibited at the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, and sold in these rooms on 12th December 1969, lot 254 and later sold at Doyle, New York, 16th September 2003, lot 80. The other was sold in our Hong Kong rooms on 1st November 1999, lot 314. Another highly related dish, once part of Captain and Mrs. Ferris Luboshez's collection, was included in the 1972 Exhibition of Chinese Art at the University of Maryland Art Gallery and has been sold three times in these rooms: 16th November 1973, lot 137; 29th November 1977, lot 24; and 15th May 1990, lot 21 and is featured in Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 70. Another dish from the collections of A.D. Brankston, Mrs. W.H. Roberts, and T.Y. Chao was sold in our London rooms on 30th March 1978, lot 23 175 and again in Hong Kong on 19th May 1987, lot 239. Compare also a highly close dish with waves on the edge, sold in our New York rooms, 20 March 2018, lot 108.

A dish with similar design, housed in the Palace Museum, Taipei, was featured in the 2017 exhibition "Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty," and is detailed in the catalogue, p. 60. It is displayed alongside a small bracket-lobed cup on p.61, which may have been used in conjunction with such dishes. Another dish of this design from the Xuande period resides in the Shanghai Museum, which is illustrated by Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan cangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 1-23.

Lot 5041. A fine and rare small blue and white 'floral' bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1402-1424); 19.4 cm. Estimate 7,000,000 - 14,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 7,366,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

finely potted with rounded sides rising from a tall foot to a gently everted rim, painted overall in deep tones of cobalt accented with 'heaping and piling' effect, the exterior with four sprays of lotus, camellia, pomegranate and peony between single line borders, the interior with sprays of fruiting pomegranate in a medallion and the rim with classic scroll, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: Collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939), coll. no. C.94.

Sotheby's London, 29th May 1940, lot 208.

Collection of Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark, coll. no. 824.

Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974.

Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), Hong Kong.

Collection of T.Y. Chao Family Trust.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18th November 1986, lot 44.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: Tosetsu / A Monthly Journal Published by The Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 451, October 1990 (Mayuyama & Co., Ltd ad).

Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, pp. 62-63.

Exhibited: Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974, cover and cat. no. 6.

Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 10.

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 50.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 35.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 43.

Note: This rare and finely potted bowl exemplifies the restrained elegance and technical mastery characteristic of imperial porcelain production under the reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-1424). Decorated with carefully spaced floral sprays bursting with life, the bowl embraces the power of negative space and represents a rare departure from more commonly attested scrollwork designs that tend to crowd the surface. From the flower sprays on the exterior – each representing a season of the year – to the pair of pomegranates in the center – symbols of abundance and progeny – the present bowl is richly painted with the characteristic ‘heaping and piling’ of early cobalt pigments; a jewel from the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen.

Yongle bowls of this size – cautiously painted on their exteriors, with classic scrolls to the interior rim and roundels to the center – are rare and appear to have been made in parallel with a more commonly attested group of smaller bowls, around 11 cm in diameter. Compare, for example, a bowl of the latter size, similarly decorated with four seasonal flowers to the exterior but with a lotus roundel to the interior, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. gu 00143249); another, decorated with two peach branches, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 3:26; and three other related bowls with peach, chrysanthemum and lotus exterior decoration uncovered from the Yongle stratum at Dongmentou, Zhushan in 1994 and included in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, cat. nos 77-79.

To date, only two other closely related Yongle bowls of this size and ‘four seasons’ design appear to have been published and are preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing and Palace Museum, Taipei: the former (accession no. xin 00076697) of identical design to the present included in Imperial Porcelains from the Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2015, cat. no. 63; and the latter (accession no. gu ci 011705), with a camelia spray in place of the present pomegranates, illustrated on the Museum's website (fig. 1).

fig. 1. Blue and white 'floral' bowl, Ming dynasty,Palace Museum, Taipei.CC BY 4.0 @ www.npm.gov.tw

This design appears to have remained popular throughout the fifteenth century, when it was recreated in the ‘outline and wash’ style popularised during the Interregnum (1436-1464) and Chenghua (1465-1487) periods. Compare a closely related example of this type from the Roy C. Leventritt Collection in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, exhibited in Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 78, and later in Suzanne G. Valenstein, Ming Porcelains: A Retrospective, China Institute in America, New York, 1970, cat. no. 18, where the author attributes the piece to the Interregnum period.

Five other Yongle bowls of similar form, size and style but with scrolling lotus designs to the exterior are also preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei (accession nos. gu ci 010172–6); one of which is illustrated in Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the Yongle Reign of the Ming Dynasty, Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017, p. 74.

Lot 5042. A rare small blue and white 'lotus' dish, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435); 17.4 cm. Estimate 2,000,000 - 4,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,032,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

with shallow rounded sides rising to a flared rim, the interior painted with a central roundel enclosing a lotus spray, surrounded by a continuous lotus scroll encircling the cavetto similarly rendered on the exterior, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Probably collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939), coll. no. C.113.

Probably Sotheby's London, 29th May 1940, lot 232 (one of a pair, unillustrated).

Collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, coll. no. 828 (one of a pair).

Spink & Son, Ltd, London, 1974 (one of a pair).

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 2001, lot 532.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, inv. no. 5446.

Literature: Tosetsu / A Monthly Journal Published by The Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 598, January 2003 (Mayuyama & Co., Ltd ad).

Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, p. 64.

Exhibited: Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974, cat. no. 20.

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, back cover and cat. no. 51.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 47.

Note: Painted with stylised lotus blooms and curled leaves in vibrant cobalt blue, this charming dish belongs to a rare group of Xuande porcelain. The fancifully rendered lotus, similar to those seen on early Ming Buddhist sculptures, signifies untainted purity. For comparables, see a dish in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue and white porcelain in the Palace Museum], vol. 2, Beijing, 2002, pl. 129; another in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in Special Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 176; another, probably the pair to the current dish, formerly in the collections of George Eumorfopoulous and Mrs Alfred Clark, illustrated in Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974, cat. no. 21, and a dish from the collection of Joseph Lau, sold in these rooms, 29th April 2022, lot 1.

Lot 5043. A very rare anhua-decorated blue and white 'dragon' dish, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435); 20.2 cm. Estimate 4,000,000 - 8,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 8,001,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

finely potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a gently flared rim, the interior painted in shades of deep cobalt blue with three ruyi clouds radiating from the slightly sunk centre, enclosed within a double-line border, the flared rim edged with a classic scroll, the cavetto decorated in anhua with two dragons, echoed on the exterior with two cobalt-blue dragons pursuing flaming pearls, interspersed with groups of three clouds, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: Collection of Major Lindsay F. Hay (1891-1946).

Sotheby's London, 25th June 1946, lot 45.

C.T. Loo & Cie.

Collection of Frederick M. Mayer (d. 1974).

Christie's London, 24th June 1974, lot 92.

Spink & Son Ltd, London (label).

Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), Hong Kong.

Collection of T.Y. Chao Family Trust, inv. no. 14.

Offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18th November 1986, lot 33.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1999, lot 313.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

A Japanese private collection.

Literature: Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 23.

Tosetsu / A Monthly Journal Published by The Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 803, March 2020, pl. 4.

Exhibited: An Exhibition of Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 65.

Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain: 14th to 19th Centuries, Oriental Ceramic Society, Arts Council Gallery, London, 1953-54, cat. no. 64. 

Ming and Qing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 15.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 36.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 45.

Note:Xuande dishes of this design are extremely rare, although this pattern was in use from the Hongwu to the Zhengde period. Another dish of this type, also of Xuande mark and period but with straight instead of a flared rim, is in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Misugi, Blue and White Ceramics of the World, vol. 2, Kyoto, 1982, pls 56a and b. A Hongwu and a Yongle prototype are illustrated together in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Beijing, 1993, figs 6 and 7; another Yongle version was sold in these rooms, 5th November 1997, lot 1366.

No Xuande dish of this pattern is recorded in the Taipei Palace Museum collection, but a related dish with three clouds on the inside and phoenix on the outside is published in the Museum's Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 191.

Lot 5044. An exceptionally rare and finely painted blue and white 'floral' jar, Mark and period of Chenghua (1465-1487); h. 9.7 cm. Estimate 12,000,000 - 24,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 12,575,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

with a well-proportioned body rising to a rounded shoulder surmounted by a constricted neck, the exterior sensitively and delicately painted in muted tones of cobalt blue with the nine lush autumn-flowering buds and blossoms, evenly spaced with the luscious blooms rendered borne on curling leafy stems issuing from the ground, all between double-line borders encircling the upper shoulder and foot, the base inscribed with a six-character mark within a double circle, veiled overall save for the unglazed footring with a most sensual unctuous glaze, Japanese wood box with an inscription by Kushi Takushi (1898-1973).

Provenance: Collection of the Akaboshi family, Tokyo, acquired in the 1930s.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, acquired in the 1940s.

Collection of Takushin Kushi (1898-1973), Tokyo, acquired in the 1940s.

Watanabe & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: Mindai no Sometsuke to Akae [Porcelains with Blue-and-white and Red-enamels from the Ming Dynasty], Tokyo: Sogeisha, 1953, no. 12.

Sekai Bijutsu Zenshu [Complete Series of World Fine Arts], vol. 20: Min Shin Kindai [Ming, Qing and Modern], Tokyo, 1956, no. 86.

Takushin Kushi, Minsho Toji Zukan [Porcelains of the Early Ming Dynasty], Yuzankaku Inc, Tokyo, 1968, cat. no. 9.

Mayuyama: Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 792.

Exhibited: Chugokutoji Gen Ming Meihinten [Chinese Ceramics from the Yuan - Ming Dynasties], The Japan Ceramic Society, Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1956, cat. no. 29.

Lot 5045. An exceedingly rare blue and white 'lily' palace bowl, Mark and period of Chenghua (1465-1487); 14.7 cm. Estimate 40,000,000 - 80,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 35,145,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

masterfully potted with deep rounded sides gracefully rising from a tapered foot to a gently everted rim, superbly painted in characteristic soft tones of cobalt-blue washes outlined with a darker blue border, the rounded sides of the interior superbly and freely decorated with a continuous undulating scroll forming a rounded lozenge and bearing four lilies, each with five delicate pointed petals, the elegant design further punctuated with leaves issuing from the meandering scroll, all below a double-line border and encircling a central double-line medallion enclosing a floral bloom with overlapping petals, the frieze on the cavetto echoed on the exterior between two double-line borders, the foot skirted with a further double-line band, all thinly veiled overall save for the unglazed footring with a most exquisite unctuous glaze, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: Peter Boode (died probably 1972), London, acquired in January 1936 (£50).

Collection of Mr (1898-1970) and Mrs R.H.R. Palmer, no. 403.

Christie's Hong Kong, 17th January 1989, lot 575.

Collection of T.T. Tsui (1940-2010).

Collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong.

Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 548 (from the single-owner auction of the Jingguantang Collection).

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 74.

Splendour of Ancient Chinese Art. Selections from the Collections of TT Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art Worldwide, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 54.

Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, pp. 65-67.

Nagomi [A Monthly Magazine by Tankosha], Tankosha, Tokyo, May 2018, p. 16.

Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 22.

Exhibited: Selected Treasures of Chinese Art. Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990-91, cat. no. 135.

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 53.

Kaikan Sanjugoshunen Sinmeishou Sekou Kinen Tokubetukikakuten Nihon Chugoku Kankoku Toji no Meihin, Koko ni Tsudou [Memorial Special Exhibition of 35th Anniversary and Remaining Enforcement Sense of Beauty: Impressive Masterpieces of the Ceramics of Japan, China and Korea], Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Aichi, 2013, cat. no. 49.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d’œvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, no. 38.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 48.

Lot 5046. A fine blue and white 'dragon' dish, Mark and period of Zhengde (1506-1521); 19.7 cm. Estimate 2,000,000 - 4,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,905,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

well potted with shallow rounded sides resting on a slightly tapered foot, brilliantly painted in the centre with a dragon writhing amid a flowering lotus scroll, the mythical beast depicted with a scaly body and powerful claws, white horns and a bushy mane, the cavetto and exterior similarly decorated with two dragons soaring among lotus, one striding, the other with its neck twisted in a ferocious posture, all between double-line borders and above a frieze of ruyi encircling the foot, the base inscribed with a four-character reign mark within a double circle, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Kitayama Bijutsuten, Tokyo.

Literature: Tosetsu / A Monthly Journal Published by The Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 411, June 1987 (Kitayama Bijutsuten ad).

Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, pp. 71-73.

Geijutsu Shincho [A Monthly Japanese Art Journal], May 2012 (Supplement), pl. 9-10.

Exhibited:Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 55.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 39.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 49.

Toujikyokai Kaiin Gentei Dainikai Tokubetsu Kanshokai Ise collection Chugoku Toji To, Hokuso, Nanso, Gen, Min, Shin [Special Exhibition for the members of The Japan Ceramic Society, Part 2, Chinese porcelains from Ise Collection; Tang, Northern Song, Southern Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing], Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, 2019, unillustrated.

Note: Closely related examples, all bearing the four-character reign mark that is characteristic of this group of dishes, are found in museums and collections around the world; see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 63; one in the Capital Museum, Beijing, published in Zhongguo taoci quanji, Shanghai, 2000, vol. 12, pl. 138; another in the Shanghai Museum, included in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 116; and a fourth example formerly in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1679, and was sold multiple times at auction, most recently in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 19, from the Meiyintang collection. For the Xuande prototype see one excavated at the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns, published in Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-119.

For sold examples of similar Zhengde-period dishes, see one from the collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung, sold in these rooms, 9th October 2022, lot 135; compare another one from the collection of Albert Y.P. and Sara K.S. Lee, sold in our New York rooms, 21st September 2022, lot 202.

A dish of this design is shown on the sixth scroll of the Guwan tu (Imperial Collection of Yongzheng), dated to the sixth year of his reign (1728), which was sold in our London rooms, 19th May 1939, lot 62, and is now in the British Museum, London, from the Sir Percival David collection.

Lot 5047. A fine and large blue and white 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Zhengde (1506-1521); 23.4 cm. Estimate 5,000,000 - 7,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 5,080,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

with deep rounded sides rising from a tall straight foot to a flared rim, the exterior painted with two five-clawed dragons writhing sinuously amidst undulating lotus scrolls, one depicted striding with head raised, the other with its neck dramatically coiling through the foliage, all above a ruyi border encircling the foot, the interior similarly decorated with a matching dragon medallion, surrounded on the cavetto by two further dragons, the base inscribed with a four-character reign mark within a double circle, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1937.

Collection of R.F.A. Riesco (1877-1964), coll. no. 168.

Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2013, lot 3117.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: Edgar E. Bluett, The Riesco Collection of Old Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1951, p. 13.

Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist, Croydon, 1987, p. 11, no. 94.

Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 25.

Exhibited: Ming Blue-and-White Porcelain, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1946, cat. no. 56.

Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain 14th to 19th Centuries, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1953-54, cat. no. 127.

The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Arts Council of Great Britain, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1957, cat. no. 137.

The Ceramic Art of China, Arts Council of Great Britain and Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1971, cat. no. 167.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 50.

Note: The dragon and scrolling lotus motif, a favoured design of the Zhengde Emperor, adorned a variety of porcelain wares during his reign, including dishes, stem bowls, and spittoons, though it was seldom seen on bowls. This design's rarity on bowls highlights the uniqueness of the present lot and a select few others. Known similar examples include four bowls with almost identical designs: two are housed in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pls. 69 and 71; another is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains], vol. II, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 91; and a smaller bowl from the Su Lin An Collection was sold at these rooms, 23 October 2005, lot 204. Additionally, a bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, displays the same exterior and interior medallion design, but with a plain cavetto and the reign mark in Phags-pa script, illustrated in the op. cit, Hong Kong, pl. 70. Compare also with a similar example with Phags-pa mark in the Leshantang collection, sold in these rooms, 9 April 2024, lot 106.  

Other variations of this design include a bowl with deeper sides and a smaller size found in the Zhengde stratum at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, and exhibited in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, as part of the Imperial Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware exhibition in 1995, cat. no. 172. Compare three more bowls with deeper and straighter sides: one in the Beijing Palace Museum shown in the op. cit, Hong Kong, pl. 68; another in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming dynasty imperial ceramics], Shanghai, 2007, no. 3-77; and the last in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book IV, Hong Kong, 1963, pl. 7.

This design echoes the motifs found on Xuande prototypes, as seen in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains], vol. I, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 67, underscoring the continuity and evolution of imperial porcelain aesthetics during the Ming dynasty.

Lot 5060. A blue and white 'lion' jardinière, Mark and period of Wanli (1522-1566); d. 41.8 cm. Estimate 600,000 - 1,200,000 HKD. Lot sold 609,600 HKD. © Sotheby's 2025

heavily potted with tapering sides rising to a lipped rim, the exterior painted with four Buddhist lions playing with a ribbon-tied ball, the rim inscribed with a horizontal six-character reign mark, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Hirano Kotoken.

Exhibited: Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 72.

Note: The fine quality and decoration on this exceptional jardinière tie it closely to the fine group of blue and white jardinières and fishbowls of similar size and form, decorated with very similar arrangement of Buddhist lions or fish and aquatic plants. Compare a closely related large blue and white 'carp' fishbowl, Mark and period of Wanli, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3590.

Sotheby's. Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Hong Kong, 9 September 2025