Lot 1475. A very rare blue and white dish, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 122,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

With sturdily potted, shallow rounded sides rising from the wedge-shaped foot, the interior painted in inky underglaze blue enriched by 'heaping and piling' with a central vermiculate-patterned roundel surrounded by six roundels alternately filled with waves and peony, lotus and orange blossoms, all separated by flaming pearls and encircled by a diaper border below a band of lotus scroll in the well which is repeated on the exterior, all within double line borders, the base unglazed.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London.

Literature: Tsugio Mikami, Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1991, p. 276, fig. 211. 

Note: This very rare dish is probably unique, as no other dish with similar decoration appears to be published.  

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I & II, 15 September 2011, New York