A blue and white 'fish' dish Yuan dynasty

sturdily potted with rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted barbed rim, painted with vivid shades of cobalt-blue to the interior with a fish swimming amongst waterweeds and other aquatic plants, all encircled by a meandering lotus scroll and a diaper band at the rim, the exterior decorated with a lappet band

This large and impressive dish has a 7 x 10mm., rim chip to the underside with an associated 7cm., long hairline rim crack, a circa 24cm., crescent-shaped hairline glaze crack from seven to one o'clock, and minor glaze firing imperfections including iron-spots and glaze pin holes and light glaze scratches.
"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."

The motif of a fish swimming amongst waterweeds is a classic Yuan design and the present example belongs to a less-common group characterised by their barbed rims. Compare a smaller dish with a wavy rim, also depicting fish amongst weeds, included in Ye Peilan, Yuandai ciqi, Beijing, 1998, pl. 117. A circular dish depicting a related fish is published in Blue and White Ceramics of the World, vol. 1, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 37.

 

A number of dishes of similar fish design are preserved although they vary considerably in their execution; a similar example in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, pl. 568; one in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, is published in Chugoku no toji. Gen Min no seika, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 15; another with the character chun (spring) incised on the fish before glazing, formerly in the Ardabil Shrine and now in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran, is included in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington D.C., 1956, pl. 9; and a fourth example from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 635, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4^th April 2012, lot 17.