Lot 2. Property of a Gentleman. A small blue and white 'floral' barbed dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1425). Diameter 19 cm. Lot Sold 184,150 GBP (Estimate 60,000 - 80,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Collection of Shah Abbas (1588-1629); the reverse of the dish bears the ‘Shah Abbas’ mark in Arabic-script.
Acquired in Europe by the father of the present owner in the 1960s.

Note: This dish embodies the beauty and outstanding quality of blue-and-white wares from the Yongle reign (1403-1424), arguably the best period for the production of porcelain decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. Under the strict supervision of the court, the imperial porcelain kilns at Jingdezhen radically improved the materials used for throwing, glazing and painting in this period, which in the preceding Hongwu reign (1368-1398) had still led to a somewhat haphazard production line. By the Yongle period blue-and-white had developed a reliable standard and a distinct identity that made it one of the most highly revered ceramic wares throughout history. The present dish displays to perfection the features that characterize Yongle blue-and-white: the orange tone of the body, where it remained exposed, the bluish tinge of the transparent glaze, the bright cobalt blue, and particularly the tendency of the iron-rich pigment to fire through the glaze to form blackish spots on the surface, known as ‘heaping and piling’. The barbed shape and the painted flower design are equally characteristic of this great period. Although both are directly derived from Hongwu prototypes, in the Yongle period they were equally improved in every respect. Hongwu prototypes were moulded as cup stands, with the ring of petal panels painted onto a raised ring in the centre that would hold the cup. Dishes such as the present one are also believed to have been intended for this purpose, but with their flat centers would obviously have been much more universally useable. 

n the Hongwu period, the bracket shape, created by double molds, had sharp angles, ridges and grooves, and a thick, angular rim. In the Yongle reign, the brackets – in China likened to the form of the water caltrop (ling) – were much softened and the rim became broader and thinner, with a well-rounded edge; for the Hongwu prototype compare a dish excavated from the Ming imperial kiln site, included in the exhibition Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, cat. no. 17.

For a closely related example, see a dish in the Ardabil Shrine, Iran, illustrated in John A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 29.272. Compare also other Yongle barbed rim dishes, including one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum’s exhibition Shi yu xin: Mingdai Yongle huangdi de ciqi/Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2017, cat. no. 60; and another, sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 108.

Lot 1. Property of a lady, sold to benefit Blue Cross, UK. A blue and white 'floral' bowl, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435). Diameter 17.3 cm. Lot Sold 50,800 GBP (Estimate 10,000 - 20,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle.

Note: Finely painted in vibrant shades of blue, this elegantly shaped bowl carries the essence of Xuande period (1426-35) aesthetics. Bold, yet finely detailed, the remarkable decoration splendidly contrasts with the perfect, lustrous glaze. Using the xieyi (sketching thoughts) style of painting, the artist let the brush to freely run over the bowl's surface; the naturalistic blooms seem to surge from their background, as if in relief. This exceptional quality of painting, characteristic of the best of the Xuande period, was later emulated, but never equalled. Post-Xuande depictions of similar flower scrolls became more stylised and lost the intensity of the blue.

Similar bowls, with a lotus design, are portrayed on the Guwan tu (Scroll of antiquities) made during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-35) and dated equivalent to 1728. The scroll, depicting various artworks in the imperial collection, is now in the Percival David Foundation in London. Two bowls identical to the present piece are in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and in the Palace Museum in Beijing, one included in the exhibition catalogue Mingdai Xuande guanyao jingcui tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 135, together with a slightly smaller bowl painted with lotus scrolls on the exterior, cat. no. 134; the other, somewhat smaller, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu Qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum],  Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pl. 149, together with an example with lotus scroll, ibid, pl.148. See also a closely related bowl from the Tianminlou collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot 6.

Lot 3. Property of a lady. A blue and white 'fish' dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620). Diameter 17.9 cm. Lot Sold 20,320  GBP (Estimate 10,000 - 15,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

The base with a cash mark reading De hua changchun (virtue, culture and long life) encircled by a four-character mark, all in underglaze blue within a circle.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th November 1986, lot 207.

Note: Compare a closely related dish in the Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, illustrated in Yuan and Ming Blue and White Ware from Jiangxi, Nanchang, 2002, pl. 96; a dish from the collection of Edward T. Chow (1910–1980), sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 416, and again at Christie's New York, 25th September 2020, lot 1560, from the Lenora and Walter F. Brown collection; and a third example, from the R.H.R. Palmer Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2023, lot 2806.

Lot 4. Property of a lady. A blue and white 'lança characters' stem bowl, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620). Diameter 13.8 cm. Lot Sold 10,795 GBP (Estimate 6,000 - 8,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

Note: Similar examples include a stem bowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum's exhibition Radiating Hues of Blue And White. Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains in the National Palace Museum Collection, 2015, cat. no. 123; a smaller bowl, exhibited in The Fame of Flame. Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Period, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 82; and a third example, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th October 2022, lot 3630.

Lot 6. Property of a lady. A blue and white 'lotus' dish, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620). Diameter 18.8 cm. Lot Sold 10,795 GBP (Estimate 4,000 - 6,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

the base with a four-character mark reading fu shou kang ning (Good fortune and health be with you) in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16th / 17th May 1989, lot 127.

Lot 7. Property from an English Private Collection. A blue and white 'Zhong Kui' dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620). Diameter 28.3 cm. Lot Sold 43,180 GBP (Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue.

Note: This dish is notable for the vibrant scene painted in the centre, depicting Zhong Kui, the 'Demon Queller', sipping wine beneath a pine tree whilst being entertained by demons playing drums and preforming acrobatic tricks. Zhong Kui was the legendary scholar who committed suicide on the steps of the Imperial Palace after being deprived of holding the title for passing the civil service examinations. After returning to the mortal world to save Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) from the evil spirits and ghosts plaguing his sleep, he was posthumously restored to his rightful position, and given the sobriquet 'Demon Queller'.

Compare a similar dish from the H. R. Harris Collection, and now preserved in the Old Speech Room Gallery, Harrow School, London, illustrated in R. L. Hobson and A. L. Hetherington, The Art of the Chinese Potter, London, 1982, pl. CLII; and a dish painted with an immortal and his servants, in the British Museum, London, published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of the Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics In the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 11:117.

Lot 5. Property from an Asian Private Collection. A blue and white bowl, Late Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Diameter 13.8 cm. Lot Sold 7,620 GBP (Estimate 3,000 - 5,000 GBP). © Sotheby's 2023

the base with a four-character mark reading Zhenzi san hao (The pure character number three) in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 12th May 2010, lot 23.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 1st november 2023