Lot 357. A blue and white moulded 'lotus' dish, Wanli underglaze blue six-character mark within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 7½ in. (19 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 6,000 - GBP 8,000. Price realised GBP 20,000. © Christies Image Ltd 2012

The dish is delicately moulded in the form of a lotus flower, supported on a short straight foot. The interior has a roundel to the centre containing a Tibetan character, encircled by two ruyi-bands and two rows of overlapping petals. The underside has a band of projecting lotus petals below a row of panels along the rim decorated with Tibetan characters and floral sprays.

Note: See a similar example in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Shoudu bowuguan cang ci xuan, Wenwu chubanshe, Beijing, 1991, p. 136, no. 130. Another is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 313. Also compare a similarly decorated dish that was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27 May 2009, lot 1868.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 15 May 2012