A rare blue and white 'waves and flowers' bowl, Wanli six-character mark and of the period (1573-Wanli period); 15.5cm (6 1/8in) diam. Asking price: £38,000. © Bonhams.

The deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot, brightly painted around the exterior in rich cobalt blue tones with a continuous undulating scroll of eight lotus blooms and eight mallow flower-heads borne on meandering leafy stems, between two bands of windswept waves around the rim and foot, all divided by double-line borders, the interior similarly decorated with a central medallion defined by a triple line border enclosing wave-crest designs reserved on whorls, the inner rim with a composite scroll of further flower heads, the convex base with the six-character reign mark within double circles.

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, London, 2004
A European private collection.

Published and Illustrated: S. Marchant & Son, Ming Blue and White: Jiajing - Chongzhen Including Dated Examples, London, 2004, no.27.

Note: This bowl is exceptionally rare and only one other example, Wanli mark and of the period, appears to be known, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2013, lot 3119.

The present bowl was made in imitation of similar bowls made during the early Ming dynasty in the Xuande period. See a blue and white bowl, Xuande mark and period, from the F. Gordon Morrill collection, which was offered at Doyle, New York, 16 September 2003, lot 89. For a further related example painted with borders of waves and a composite floral scroll, see a blue and white jar, Jiajing mark and period, illustrated in Enlightening Elegance: The Imperial Porcelain ofthe Mid to Late Ming. The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, no.40.

Private Sales at Bonhams