Lot 836. A black lacquer petal-lobed deep bowl, Northern Song dynasty, late 11th-early 12th century, 16.4 cm wide, cloth box. Price realised USD 40,640 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

The exterior of the body is carved with inscription reading Bei Ma (Northern Horse) XXX.

Provenance: Private collection, New York, 2007.
Kaikodo, New York.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring 2008, no. 69.

Note: The lobed shape of this bowl, with its elegant profile, is thought to have derived from Tang silver examples. The shape can also be found in 9th-century white-glazed porcelain, such as a small cup in the Kempe Collection illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd in Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 123, no. 380. Variations of the shape also appear in qingbai wares of the Song period.

A Song-dynasty brown lacquer bowl of related lobed ‘plum blossom’ form is illustrated in Layered Beauty: The Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2010, no. 10, and was subsequently sold in Roger Keverne Ltd - Moving On; Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 104.

Christie's. Important Chinese Furniture and Works of Art, New York, 19 September 2025