Lot 15. A rare blue and white globular bowl, "shuiwan", China, Ming dynasty, Xuande six-character mark in a line and of the period (1426-1435). Diamètre: 9,5 cm. (3¾ in.). Estimate €50,000 - €70,000. Price Realized €79,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012.

De forme globulaire, sa panse est ornée de rinceaux de fleurs de dianthus et porte la marque à six caractères en ligne de l'Empereur Xuande en bleu sous couverte. La bordure est rehaussée d'une frise de motifs géométriques. La base est ceinte d'une guirlande de pétales stylisés. L'intérieur est orné d'un motif de fleur stylisée dans un médaillon. 

Provenance: Property of the late Baroness Marie-Louise von Callenberg (1901-1982), Switzerland

Notes: Globular bowls of this type were known as pure water bowls, qing shui wan. They were used in Buddhist rituals as vessels containing sacred water.

A number of examples exist in private and museum collections including one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pp. 60-61; and another is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 636.

Compare also with an example from the Percival David collection sold by Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1351, and another one from the E.T. Chow collection sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 May 1981, lot 402.

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 19 December 2012, Paris