Lot 244. A large blue and white 'Phoenix' dish, Late Ming dynasty. 43 cm, 16 7/8  in. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Unsold. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the rounded sides rising from a short foot, painted to the interior with a roundel depicting a pair of phoenixes facing each other against ruyi shaped scrolls surrounded by a diaper border, the rim painted with stylised floral sprays in cartouches separated by a diaper ground, the exterior with curling leaves and grapes borne on undulating stems, the base unglazed.

Note: A similar dish in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, is illustrated in Christiaan J.A. Jorg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1977, pl. 13; and another is illustrated in Regina Krahl and Clarissa von Spee, Chinese Ceramics from the Gulexuan Collection, Lünen, 2003, pl. 63.

Sotheby's. St George Street Sale: Chinese Art, London, 10 Nov 2017, 10:00 AM