Lot 251. A 'Ding' 'Dragon and Lotus' bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 17cm., 6 3/4 in. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 66,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the deep gently curved sides rising from a short straight foot, carved around the exterior with two rows of over-lapping stiff lotus leaves, the interior with a finely incised dragon medallion, covered overall with a clear ivory glaze, the rim copper bound.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London (paper label to the base).

Literature: 'Hsing-Yao and Ting-Yao', The Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 25, 1953, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 86, fig. 74.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 452.

The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 107. 

Sotheby's. London, Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork: Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 14 May 2008