Lot 222. A Yixing bucket-form teapot and cover, Ming dynasty, Wanli period, signed Chen Xinqing. Height 3 1/2  in., 9 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot sold 75,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of circular section, tapering towards the base, the center with a raised bowstring band, the mouth encircled with a broad raised band, leading to the stepped cover, the shoulder set with a short spout and opposing handle, the recessed base with incised signature (2). 

Provenance: Collection of Tom Y. P. Lee.
E & J Frankel, Ltd., New York, 2005.

Bibliography: E & J Frankel, Zisha: The Purple Sand of China : The Lee Collection of Ming and Qing Dynasty Yixing Ware, New York, 2005, cat. no. 1.

Note: Chen Xinqing is a potter believed to have been active between 1573 and 1620. According to K.S. Lo, The Stonewares of Yixing from the Ming Period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 66, Chen was a follower of the master potter Shi Dabin. He is listed in the Zhongguo meishujia renming cidian (Dictionary of Chinese Artists' Names), Shanghai, 2009, p. 1008, as being able to do good reproductions of Shi's works.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 sept. 2015