A rare Jizhou guri-style bowl. Southern Song Dynasty

Of conical form rising to the upturned rim, the interior decorated with guri-style scrolls issuing from a central stem to form four 'lappets' or ruyi-heads enclosing tight scrolls, the exterior with tortoiseshell glaze stopping short of the unglazed foot, the decoration in ochre-brown tones with phosphatic splashes reserved on a chocolate-brown ground. 15.7cm (6¼in) diam.- Sold for £5,520

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Provenance: a retired General in the Swiss Army, purchased in the 1970s from a German private collection.

A bowl of the same pattern from the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe, is illustrated by H. Nishida and S. Sato, eds. in Chinese Ceramics. Temmoku, vol.6, 1999, p.127. Compare a related bowl with a five-petalled guri-scrolls interior and splashes on the exterior sold at Sotheby's London, 14 November 2001, lot 78.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 6 Nov 2008. New Bond Street - www.bonhams.com