A rare blue and white barbed floral dish Ming dynasty, Yongle period

painted in deep purplish-blue shades of cobalt with 'heaping and piling' effect, centred with a meandering spray consisting of five different floral blooms surrounding a peony, enclosed by twelve further blooming sprigs around the well with each strategically placed within a lobe, the everted barbed rim with a simple lingzhi scroll, all within bracket-shaped double borders, the exterior repeating the twelve flower sprigs surrounding the well above the wedge-cut foot, the unglazed smooth base burnt a pale buff colour in the firing

Bluett & Son, London, 1990.

The dish is in very good condition overall, apart from light expected surface scratches to the interior. There are seven small burst air bubbles to the edges of the rim, each approx 0.1 by 0.1cm. The colour of the porcelain is slightly more bluish tinged than the catalogue illustrates.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Yongle dishes of this form and design can be found in important museums and private collections worldwide. A very similar large dish, in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, p. 116, pl. 3:35, where another large dish of this shape but different decoration excavated in the Yongle stratum at Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen, is mentioned. See another dish of this size and design in Taiwan, included in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum. Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1963, pls. 22 and 22a; one, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in Ming chu qinghua ci, Beijing, 2002, pl. 134; one published in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 35; and one, formerly in the collection of Dr. Frederik Wahlgen and later the Lindberg collection, included in the exhibition Ming Blue-and-White, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1964, p. 18, cat.no. 36, was sold in these rooms, 28th November 1978, lot 66.

In further Asian collections, see a dish published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.2, London, 1994, pl. 663; one included in the exhibition Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, part 1, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat.no. 6; and one formerly in the Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo, sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 19.

Compare a dish from the Morrill collection sold at Doyle's New York, 16th September 2003, lot 82; one sold in these rooms, 31st October 2004, lot 160; and one sold more recently in these rooms, 8th October 2006, lot 1159.