A FINE AND MASSIVE LONGQUAN CELADON CHARGER YUAN DYNASTY

heavily potted with shallow rounded sides resting on a short foot, covered evenly overall with a lustrous pale olive-green glaze, save for an unglazed ring to the base burnt slightly orange in the firing

An old Kyoto collection.

The charger is in exceptionally good condition with just a few insignificant scratches to the interior.
"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."

Dishes of this large form and fine quality were made in the Longquan kilns from the late 14th century onwards under the supervision of the Ming court. The preference was for large-sized display vessels that were either left undecorated to highlight the luminous celadon glaze, or were decorated with stamped, moulded, incised or carved motifs. Tsai Mei-fen in ‘Introduction to Lonquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty in the National Palace Museum’, Green Longquan Celadon of the Mind Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2009, pp. 2-22, notes that during the early Ming dynasty, imperial ceramics were produced at both Jingdezhen and Longquan.

Dishes of this massive size are unusual although a reconstructed example excavated at the imperial Longquan kilns at Chuzhou, Zhejiang province, is illustrated in 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, p. 254, pl. 6; a slightly larger one was sold in our New York rooms, 8th May 1981, lot 254; another, from the collection of Charlotte Horstmann, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th September 1989, lot 555; and a fourth dish, from the collection of Cargill and Donna MacMillan, was sold at Christie’s New York, 26th March 2010, lot 1346.

Compare also dishes of this form and glaze but slightly smaller in size; such as one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Green Longquan Celadon of the Mind Dynasty, op. cit., pl. 41; another included in the exhibition Wewen yu se zhao ci ou [The Warmth of the colour of jade illuminates the porcelain vessel], Beijing Capital Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 112; a third example illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 515, and sold in these rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 3632; and a further dish sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th May 2007, lot 1478.