A Longquan Celadon Crackle-Glazed Conical Bowl. Southern Song Dynasty, 12th-13th Century. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The bowl has widely flared sides that rise from the small foot ring, and is covered allover with a luminous glaze of soft blue-green color suffused with gold-colored crackle, that is repeated on the inside of the foot and the slightly pointed base. 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) diam. Estimate $20,000 - $30,000

Provenance: Sir Herbert Ingram (1875-1958) Collection; Sotheby's London, 12 December 1989, lot 257. Christie's New York, 20 September 2002, lot 303 (part). 

Notes: Crackle-glazed Longquan bowls of this type may have been made in imitation of Guan wares, and have been excavated from the Song dynasty kiln at Shifangxian; see Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 166, no. 137. A similar bowl with a metal-bound rim is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 151, no. 136, where it is noted to have been in the Qing Court collection. Another bowl of this type is in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, and illustrated in China at the Inception of the Second Millennium - Art and Culture of the Sung Dynasty, Taipei, 2000, p. 167, no. III-21.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part II, 13 September 2012. New York, Rockefeller Plaza