A FINE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'THREE FRIENDS' DISH MING DYNASTY, YONGLE PERIOD

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS ARE REQUESTED TO COMPLETE THE PREMIUM LOT PRE-REGISTRATION 3 WORKING DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE. BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE.



 



of deep saucer shape with characteristic low V-shaped foot, the inside painted with a stem of bamboo and branches of pine and prunus, the blossoms reserved in white against haloes of blue, the sides with a composite flower scroll composed of morning glory, peony, rose, lotus, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, mallow, lily, gardenia, camellia, tea and pomegranate, with a key-fret rim border, similarly repeated on the outside with a classic-scroll border above and key-fret below, the deep cobalt-blue with 'heaping and piling', the base and footring unglazed and fired an orange tone

Private collection, Hong Kong.
Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1994.

Yuan and Early Ming Blue and White Porcelain, Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1994, cat. no. 16 (illustrated).
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 114 (illustrated).

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1640.

Apart from a few faint glaze scratches, the overall condition is excellent. The firing of the blues is a bit grayer than in the catalogue illustration.
"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."

As the 'Three Friends of Winter', the evergreens bamboo and pine and the winter-flowering prunus that bears blossoms before sprouting leaves, were a popular subject for Chinese works of art, symbolizing endurance in adverse conditions. Several dishes of this type are recorded, but not all have the white prunus blossoms so effectively reserved against a blue halo.

A slightly smaller dish from the Ardabil Shrine in Iran is published in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, D.C., 1956, pl. 40 bottom left; another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is shown together with one with a wave border inside the rim in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue and white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pls 130 and 131, both part of the former Qing court collection; another dish of this design in the Shanghai Museum is published in Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 1-20; one with wave border from the Shriro collection, sold in our London rooms 28th May 1963, lot 131, is published in Beatrix von Ragué, Ausgewählte Werke Ostasiatischer Kunst, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin, 1970, pl. 64; and a dish belonging to Lindsay F. Hay and later in the Cunliffe collection, sold in our London rooms, 25th June 1946, lot 19, was included in the exhibition The Ceramic Art of China, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1971, and is illustrated in the catalogue in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 38, 1969-71, no. 150. A similar dish from the collection of F.G. and E.H. Morrill, exhibited on loan at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 5, was sold in our London rooms, 14th November 1967, lot 97, and 29th November 1988, lot 179, and at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th April 1997, lot 665.