A MASSIVE BARBED RIM LONGQUAN CELADON CHARGER MING DYNASTY, YONGLE PERIOD

sturdily potted on a low circular foot, the cavetto carved into sixteen equal bracket foliations below a barbed everted rim of matching form, the center left plain, covered overall with an even, thick, lustrous yellowish-green glaze, save for the wide ring on the base fired brick-red

Sotheby's New York, 8th May 1981, lot 253.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1609, and p. 3, fig. 2b.

The overall condition is very good. The glaze is even throughout with some slight pooling in the furrows on the exterior and only a few whitish specks on the interior. There are only a few light surface scratches. The actual colour is slightly deeper than the catalogue illustration. The dish comes with a wooden stand.
"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."

Longquan dishes of this type are among the largest ceramic dishes ever fired in China. The perfection of shape and glaze of this dish is remarkable and reflects the high quality the Longquan kilns were able to achieve during the Yongle reign, when they were producing for the imperial court under direct court control, parallel to and in direct competition with the porcelain manufactories of Jingdezhen.

Unsuccessfully fired and rejected dishes of this form, of similar and of smaller size, have been excavated from the imperial Longquan kilns at Chuzhou, Zhejiang province, see Ye Yingting and Hua Yunong, Faxian: Da Ming Chuzhou Longquan guanyao [Discovery: Imperial ware of the great Ming dynasty from Longquan in Chuzhou], Hangzhou, 2005, pp. 268-72. Another dish of this size in the National Museum of China, Beijing, is published in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section], Mingdai [Ming dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 112; one in the Nezu Art Museum, Tokyo, is illustrated in Nezu Bijutsukan zōhin shirizu 4: Seiji [Nezu Art Museum Collection Series 4: Celadon], Tokyo, 1977 (no pl. no.); two similar dishes in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, are published in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji/Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pls. 594 and 595; and another such dish of slightly smaller size (57 cm) is in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, ed. John Ayers, London, 1986, vol. 1, no. 245.