Lot 138. A very rare blue and white 'lotus' bowl, lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1424); 21cm (8 2/8in) diam. Estimate £ 60,000 - 80,000 (€ 68,000 - 90,000). Sold for £ 137,500 (€ 157,949). © Bonhams.

The bowl with deep sides rising from a slightly tapered foot, finely painted on the exterior in dark blue tones with a band of elongated lotus petals below a key-fret band around the rim, the interior with a central spray of fruiting loquat within double circles, surrounded by leafy scrolls of alternating blossoming camellias and chrysanthemum flowerheads and a band of breaking waves at the rim, the deep tones of cobalt with extensive 'heaping and piling'. 

Provenance: Sotheby's Amsterdam, 14 November 2005, lot 7
A European private collection.

Note: A very similar bowl is included in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, no.F1951.14a-b. Another is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Underglaze blue and red porcelain wares, Hong Kong, 2000, pl.75. Another 'lotus' bowl, Yongle, from the Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 2004, no.B637, p.85; a final example is illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol.2, fig.670, and was later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9 October 2012, lot 1851.

Porcelain bowl with lotus petals on exterior, Ming dynasty, early 15th century, probably Yongle reign, Porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze, Jingdezhen ware. H x W: 10 x 21 cm (3 15/16 x 8 1/4 in). Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.14a-b, Freer Gallery of Art. © 2018 Smithsonian Institution.

Lotus bud bowl with flowers, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, AD1403–1424. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration,  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. H x W: 10,2 x 21 cm. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF,B.637. © Trustees of the British Museum.

Two related bowls were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1871, and 31 May 2010, lot 1851; another, from the Lord Cunliffe Collection, was sold at Bonhams London, 12 May 2016, lot 38.

A magnificent early Ming blue and white bowl, lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1425); 8 1/4 in. (21 cm.) diam. Sold for 7,820,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1851. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

Cf. my post: A magnificent early Ming blue and white bowl, lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1425)

 

 

From the Lord Cunliffe Collection. A very rare blue and white 'lotus' bowl, lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1425); 20.8cm (8 2/8in) diam. Sold for £ 98,500 (€ 110,938) at Bonhams London, 12 May 2016, lot 38.

Cf. my post: A very rare blue and white 'lotus' bowl, lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1425)

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 8 Nov 2018, 10:30 GMT,LONDON, NEW BOND STREET