Lot 2114. A rare Ming café-au-lait-glazed dish, Jiajing underglaze-blue six-character mark within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566); 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price Realized USD 81,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

The dish is finely potted with shallow, rounded sides rising to a slightly everted rim, and is covered overall with an attractive, even glaze of lustrous golden brown tone. Faint traces of a design of dragons chasing flaming pearls is visible on the interior and exterior, cloth box.

Provenance: J.M. Hu Collection.

Note: It is very rare to find café-au-lait-glazed porcelain from the Jiajing period, although a slightly smaller Jiajing-marked dish in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 37 - Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 63, no. 57, together with a deep bowl, p. 62, no. 56. Compare, also, another coffee-brown-glazed Jiajing bowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Monochrome Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 13.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014