A WHITE MALLOW-SHAPED BRUSH WASHER MARK AND PERIOD OF ZHENGDE

the flaring sides with ten foliations of mallow-petal shape, all covered with a thick smooth transparent glaze, the base inscribed with a four-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Collection of Eumorfopoulos (C.165).
Collection of Lord Cunliffe (PM 119).

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 688.

There is a 3 cm body line on the side and a 2.5 cm C-shape glaze crackle near the join of the base of the interior to the side; it does not appear to be a hairline as it does not go all the way through to the other side. There is also a 10 cm discoloured luting line on the interior beneath the glaze. There are a few minor dirty pinholes. The footrim has a few minute chips to the foot. The overall condition is quite good.
"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."

White brush washers of this distinctive mallow shape were first designed in the Yongle period, although no complete example may have survived from that period. A broken vessel excavated from the imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen was included in the exhibition Jingdezhen Zhushan chutu Yongle guanyao ciqi [Yongle Imperial porcelain excavated at Zhushan, Jingdezhen], Capital Museum, Beijing, 2007, cat. no. 11.

The pair to the present piece, also once in the Eumorfopoulos, Cunliffe and T.Y. Chao collections, was sold three times in our rooms, in London 30th May 1940, lot 315; and in these rooms, 20th May, 1980, lot 60 and again 19th May 1987, lot 251; one from the collection of Nancy and Ira Koger, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Beijing, 1993, p. 116, fig. 216, was also sold three times in our rooms, in London 9th December 1986, lot 222, in New York 27th November 1990, lot 8, and here in Hong Kong 26th October 1993, lot 58; and two similar washers from the Carl Kempe collection, published in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, nos. 687-8, were sold in our Paris rooms, 12th June 2008, lots 46 and 50.

A washer of this design from the Chinese imperial collection, supported on a wooden stand is depicted in the handscroll Guwantu ('Pictures of Antiques') in the Sir Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London, which is dated in accordance with AD 1728; see China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-6, cat. no. 168.