A large Longquan celadon barbed rim bowl, Early Ming Dynasty
Lot 135. A large Longquan celadon barbed rim bowl, Early Ming Dynasty; 30.5cm diam. Sold for €10,240. Photo Bonhams.
With deep rounded sides divided into eight lobes, rising from a tapering foot to a foliate rim of corresponding form, the interior freely carved with a central flower medallion surrounded by leafy lotus sprays, the exterior decorated with lotus blooms borne on leafy stems, all under a rich olive-green glaze, the base with an unglazed ring exposing the body burnt orange during the firing.
Provenance: Collection of Max Müller (1867-1960), German Consul in Hankow, collected in China between 1905 and 1912, thence by descent to his daughter Irmgard Müller-Doertenbach (1909-2011), acquired from her estate.
Note: Compare two similar Longquan celadon bowls carved with lotus sprays from the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Tsai Mei-fen, Green-Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, nos.28 and 29. See also a bowl of this shape in the collection of the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, decorated with a carved design of fruit and flower sprays on the interior and lotus sprays on the exterior, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. 1, London, 1986, p.360, no.493.
Bonhams - Cornette de Saint Cyr. CHINESE ART FROM A GERMAN FAMILY COLLECTION, Paris, 26 October 2023