A rare blue and white 'Lotus' alms bowl, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000  HKD. Unsold. Photo courtesy Sotheby's

well potted with deep tapering sides supported on a rounded base, the exterior painted in cobalt-blue with large lotus blossoms wreathed by meandering leafy scrolls issuing smaller lotus buds and curling tendrils below a stylised pendent lappet band, a 'classic scroll' band circling the rim; 26.1 cm., 10 1/4  in.

Notes: Delicately painted with a leafy lotus scroll, this alms bowl is unusual for its large size; a related example but of slightly smaller size, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 142, where it is mentioned that according to the Qianlong Jishidang [Records of Qianlong], in the third year of the Qianlong reign, corresponding to 1738, the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen received an order for an alms bowl painted in underglaze blue in the style of the Xuande period (1424-1435), p. 156. Another slightly smaller bowl of this type, was sold in our New York rooms, 12th June 1984, lot 305; and a third was sold at Christie’s New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1678.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong, 07 avr. 2015