Lot 811. A very rare blue and white stembowl with formal motifs, Mark and period of Zhengde (1506-1521). Estimate 250,000 — 350,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,225,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

thinly potted, the rounded sides rising to a flared rim, supported on a tubular stem widening towards the base, delicately painted around the exterior in soft shades of cobalt blue under a smoky glaze with a formal arabesque scrollwork incorporating pomegranate-like shoots, repeated twice in opposite directions around the stem, above a collar of radiating archaistic cicada lappets encircling the base and between borders of simple curl motifs at the rim and foot, the interior left undecorated, the interior of the stem glazed and inscribed in underglaze blue with an evenly spaced six-character horizontal reign mark; diameter 16 cm., 6 1/4 in. 

Provenance: Meiyintang Collection.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1678.

Nore: Abstract designs of this type are characteristic of the Zhengde period, when they were often used in combination with Arabic writing, and as non-representational patterns may have been specially designed for the Middle Eastern market. Compare, for example, an incense burner with similar designs and medallions of Arabic writing, of Zhengde mark and period, from the collection of Sir Harry Garner, sold in these rooms, 20th May 1980, lot 41. Stembowls of the present design are, however, extremely rare, and this piece may be unique. 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong | 02 Jun 2016