A FINE AND EXCEPTIONALLY RARE YELLOW-GLAZED BOWL INCISED MARK AND PERIOD OF XUANDE

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$1,000,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THEIR BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREMIUM LOTS.



exquisitely thrown in an inverted bell shape flaring at the rim and supported on a wide, slightly tapered foot, the interior and exterior covered in a light egg-yolk yellow glaze, pooling around the foot and transmuting to a deeper yellow, the thinly glazed base exposing the transparent glaze covering the entire body, incised with a six-character reign mark in regular script in a double ring

Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 732.
Eskenazi Ltd, London. 

Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.
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. 119.

Christie's 20 Years in Hong Kong, 1986-2006. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Highlights, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 105.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1665.

Apart from the minor of loss of glaze on the foot (2mm) in 2 places on the foot rim, the overall condition is extremely good. The actual colour is closer to the colour illustration on p.57 with a deeper yellow pooling around the foot.
"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."

Monochrome yellow porcelain of the Xuande period is exceptionally rare. No other bowl of this form is recorded, and only three other yellow pieces of Xuande mark and period appear to have survived: two dishes preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, and a third in a private collection (see below). While several other yellow-glazed dishes with underglaze-blue reign marks exist, they mostly represent white dishes of Xuande mark and period with later added yellow enamel. Although one fragmentary yellow bowl with an underglaze-blue mark has been recovered from the Xuande stratum of the Ming imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen, yellow-glazed pieces of the Xuande period generally seem to have been inscribed with incised reign marks. 

Only two yellow Xuande pieces, both dishes with incised reign marks, are listed in the catalogue of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Gugong ciqi lu [Record of porcelains from the Old Palace], Taipei, 1961-6, part II, vol. 1, p. 78; one of them is illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains], Tokyo, 1977-8, vol. I, pl. 100; the other in Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu / Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 162. A third dish, later in the Jingguantang collection, was sold in these rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 120.

Yellow-glazed fragments recovered from the Xuande stratum of the imperial kiln site include those of a wine ewer and cover without reign mark, and a U-shaped bowl with an underglaze-blue mark, see Jingdezhen chutu Ming Xuande guanyao ciqi / Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos. 43-2 and 112-1, as well as bowls of the present shape with a copper-red glaze, cat. nos. 115-1 and 115-2. A monochrome white and a monochrome blue bowl of this form in the National Palace Museum, both with underglaze-blue reign marks, were included in the Museum's 1998 exhibition, op.cit., cat. nos. 57 and 58.

This form and glaze colour were reproduced again later in the Ming dynasty, but examples are equally rare. A yellow bowl of this shape of Zhengde mark and period was sold at Christie's London, 3rd December 1973, lot 274.