A 'Kinuta-glazed' molded 'Longquan' celadon dish. Yuan dynasty. Photo Sotheby's

the shallow sides with a barbed everted rim and raised edge, crisply molded in the center with a vigorous qilin with a scaly body and bushy tail, its head turned back over its shoulders, encircled on the well by a chrysanthemum meander supported on leafy stems and around the rim by demi-florets, the underside encircled by radiating flutes, covered overall with a thick glaze of rich sea-green tone, the unglazed base burnt buff in the firing; Diameter 6 in., 15.2 cm. Estlmate 6,000-8,000 USD

NOTE: Compare two similar dishes from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lots 317 and 318. The first sold again in Hong Kong 5th November 1966, lot 620.

Two related dishes with variations in the molded design, from the Buckingham collection in the Art Institute of Chicago, were included in the exhibition Chinese Art Under the Mongols, The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968, cat. nos. 68a and 68b; another from the Avery Brundage collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World, vol.13, 1981, col. pl. 162.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York. 14 september 2011 www.sothebys.com