Lot 874. A blue and white dish with fish design, Lê dynasty, 15th-16th century; 9in (23cm) diameter. Estimate US$ 1,000 - 1,200 (€850 - 1,000). Unsold. Photo: Bonhams.  

Painted in underglaze cobalt with striping along the walls and a fish swimming amid water weeds across the floor of the shallow well, the celadon-tinged glaze applied to the well and exterior walls, leaving the rim and the deeply foot area unglazed and a single ring of iron wash brushed along the join of the foot to the base.   

Published: James H. Brow and Anh Hoang Brow, 'Vietnamese Ceramics: A Ten Thousand Year Continuum,' Arts of Asia, March-April 2004, p. 91, no. 25. 

Note: For a similar dish with the fish facing to the left and two rings of iron brown painted on the base, see John Stevenson and John Guy, Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, 1997, p. 329, no. 275.