A moulded Longquan celadon 'lotus' bowl, Yuan Dynasty. Estimate £1,500 - 2,000 (€2,000 - 2,700). Photo: Bonhams.

Thinly potted with gently rounded sides rising from a slightly tapering foot ring, the exterior delicately moulded with a band of upturned lotus petals, covered overall in a lightly-crackled, glassy sea-green glaze, the foot ring unglazed and burnt slightly orange to the rim, fitted box. 16.5cm (6 1/2in) diam. (2). 

A Swiss private collection

Provenance : A Japanese Private Collection.
Sotheby's London, 6 November 2013, lot 257.

Notes: The Longquan kilns, active from around the 9th/10th century up until the 18th century, were particularly renowned for their celadon glazes which, thanks to a high-alkali and high-silica content, as well as multiple firings and applications of glaze, acquired a highly sought-after jade-like quality to their texture and colour, like the bowl in present lot.

Bowls of this shape were popular during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and six are illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection vol. 1, London, 1994, pp. 290-1, nos. 539-44.

Bonhams. ASIAN ART, 9 Nov 2015 10:30 GMT - LONDON, KNIGHTSBRIDGE