Lot 9812. Property from The Leshantang Collection. A Cizhou brown-glazed sgraffiato meiping, Song-Jin dynasty; 36.5 cm. Lot Sold 179,200 HKD (Estimate 80,000 - 120,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Lot 9813. Property from The Leshantang Collection. A Longquan celadon bottle vase, Southern Song dynasty; 16 cm. Lot Sold 204.800 HKD (Estimate 50,000 - 70,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Note: A vase of this type is illustrated in Longquan Celadon of China, Hangzhou, 1998, pl. 92; See also a similar vase from the Yang De Tang collection, sold in our New York rooms, 17th March 2015, lot 69; another from the collection of Pierre de Menasce, included in the exhibition Mostra d’Arte Cinese, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 435, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 114; and an example sold in these rooms, 30th May 2019, lot 374.

Lot 9814. Property from The Leshantang Collection. A very rare imperial lavender-purple glazed dish, Early Ming dynasty​​​​​​​​​​​​​​; 16.1 cm. Lot Sold 204.800 HKD (Estimate 180,000 - 300,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Exhibited: The Exquisite Chinese Artifacts: Collection of Ching Wan Society, Museum of History, Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 94.
 

Literature: The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 12.
 

Note: The present dish is a very rare example of an imperial early Ming dynasty Jun ware, with only a handful of comparable pieces known today. Most surviving examples are preserved in the collections of the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei and in the British Museum in London.

These dishes were traditionally attributed to Jingdezhen and thought to have been produced there in imitation of classic Jun wares, with examples of this type variously attributed to the Hongwu, Yongle, Xuande and Chenghua periods. In 2004, excavations at the Juntai kiln site in Henan uncovered bowls and dishes with purple glazes, a discovery considered highly significant in demonstrating that Juntai did in fact produce vessels of this type; see Li Baoping, ‘Numbered Jun Wares: Controversies and New Kiln Site Discoveries’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 71, 2006-2007, pp. 65-77, where the author proposes Juntai as a possible origin for related examples in museum collections. On the basis of this new evidence, a related dish from the Eumorfopoulos Collection in the British Museum (acc. no. 1936,1012.88) has been reassigned from Jingdezhen to the Juntai kiln, and it is considered more likely that, instead of the Chenghua period, it dates to the early 15th century, and was made not at Jingdezhen but at Juntai in Henan province. Regardless of its precise origin, the present dish stands out for its remarkable glaze colour and refined potting, which closely link it to the group of Jun flower vessels and distinguish it from ordinary Jun wares, attesting to its imperial quality and rarity.

Comparable examples are few. Two dishes are preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum: one (15.5 cm) from the Qing court collection and attributed to the Xuande period, acc. no. gu-145216, the other (18.8 cm) attributed to the Ming dynasty, acc. no. gu-145217, respectively illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, nos 118 and 119. The Taipei Palace Museum also holds a small number of Jun purple‑glazed bowls and plates, two dishes of which are attributed to the Ming dynasty, acc. nos zhongci-4764 (16.5 cm) and zhongci-4769 (12.3 cm). The British Museum holds two further examples: one (17.5 cm) from the George Eumorfopoulos Collection, acc. no. 1936,1012.88, formerly regarded as a Jingdezhen imitation of the Chenghua period, but now reattributed to the Juntai kilns of the early 15th century, as discussed above; and another from the Sir Percival David Collection, attributed to the Hongwu period (16 cm), acc. no. PDF.74.

Examples in private collections are even rarer. A dish (17 cm) attributed to the Yongle-Xuande period, from a Guangdong family collection and retained since the late 19th century, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2009, lot 556, later dealt through Eskenazi and entered the Ten Views of Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection, before being resold in Beijing in 2019. Another example (15.7 cm), formerly in the Manno Art Museum, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot 523, attributed to the Ming dynasty, late 14th to early 15th century. Lastly, a further dish (14.7 cm) from the Poon family and Songde Tang collections, attributed to the Hongwu-Yongle period, is offered in these rooms as lot 803 in Treasures of a Flourishing Age: The Songde Tang Collection of Ming Porcelain.