Lot 3825. An extremely rare Arabic inscribed blue and white jar, Zhengde six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1506-1521); 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 3,500,000 - HKD 5,000,000. Price Realized HKD 10,516,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Sturdily potted with rounded shoulders tapering to an angled lower body, the main body finely painted with two diamond panels, each inscribed in Arabic within double-square borders, all against a ground of dense, boldly painted, lingzhi fungus scrolls borne on curling vines and growing leaves to the sides, the short neck with a further six inscribed medallions within keyfret band borders, further designed with a register of upright plantain encircling the sharp angle on the lower body, constricted above a splayed foot designed with trefoils, box.

Note: The only other known example of this unusual shape, with the sharply angled constriction above the foot, and large size appears to be the one in the Capital Museum Collection, illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguang Cangcixuan, Selected Ceramics from the Capital Museum, 1991, p. 125, no. 115.

The cited jar from the Capital Museum and the present example are probably the largest in size amongst this group of Arabic inscribed ceramics from the Zhengde period. A related relatively large Arabic inscribed vase (25.1 cm high), is in the National Museum Collection, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book IV, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 44, pl. 1. Smaller objects are more oftened confined to those made for the scholar's desk such as brushrests such as the one modelled as mountain peaks from the Greenwald Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2806. Aside from brushrests, brush holders and boxes were popularly made items, and examples in the British Museum are illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, nos. 8:5 and 8:6, two rectangular boxes; no. 8:7, a circular box); and nos. 8:8 and 8:9, two circular stands with apertures which were used either as a brush holders or flower containers. It is noted that during the Zhengde period, Arabic inscribed ceramics were used by literate Muslim eunuchs at court or by the emperor who was fascinated by foreign scripts, cf., ibid, p. 188.

The Arabic inscriptions are derived from the Prophetic hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. The small roundels encircling the neck maybe translated as:

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3820. An important and extremely rare early Ming massive blue and white charger, Xuande six-character mark and of the period (1426-1435); 28 7/8 in. (73.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 3,000,000 - HKD 4,000,000. Price Realized HKD 3,620,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

 The unusually large charger finely and confidently painted on the interior medallion with two long-tailed parrots perched on fruiting peach branches, the birds' arched bodies leaning towards each other, encircled by composite floral sprays of chrysanthemum, lotus, pomegranate, lychee, peach, and peony beneath the straight mouth rim decorated with double circles, the exterior decorated with Lingzhi scroll, the reign mark inscribed in a line below the rim.

Note: A Xuande-marked dish of almost identical design and of approximately the same size (72.1 cm. diam.) with a pair of parrots among fruiting peach branches was excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen in 1986 and included in the exhibition, Jingdezhen Chutu Yuan Ming Guanyao Ciqi, Yuan and Ming Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Yan Huang Art Museum, Beijing, illustrated in the Catalogue, 1999, p. 193, no. 152.

The painting format also appears on a smaller foliate-rim dish (50.3 cm. diam.) from the Ataka Collection, Osaka, illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14, Ming Dynasty, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1976, p. 17, no. 10. The bird on the Ataka dish is depicted balancing on a fruiting branch with its beak aimed purposely towards bunches of fruit, it shares the same fluidity of movement as the long-tail birds on the medallion of the present charger. Compare also a Yongle period charger depicting a single bird among lychee branches from the same collection illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 63 and cover, which later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 643. Compare also a related barbed-rim dish (55 cm. diam.) with two birds on a flowering branch illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, vol. II, London, 1986, p.414, no. 595. 

Underglaze-blue chargers of such substantial size are very rare and were probably made to specific commissions. The successful firing of vessels of such massive size is a testimony to the skills of the potters at Jingdezhen. 

Lot 3731. A blue and white circular box and cover, Wanli six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1573-1619); 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 500,000 - HKD 700,000. Price Realized HKD 1,340,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

 The domed cover well painted with a scene of four boys at play in a courtyard, surrounded by a band of four dragons striding amidst clouds in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', a narrow band of composite floral scroll encircling the rim, repeated on the rim of the box, above four striding dragons encircling the foot ring, all outlined in dark underglaze blue and filled in with an underglaze blue of purplish tone.

Property of the Yiqingge Collection.

Note: The present box is probably one of the smallest in the series that were produced during the Wanli period designed with the 'boys at play' theme. A related small box and cover of rectangular form (11.7 cm. long and 7.8 cm. wide) decorated with four boys seated in a garden landscape, in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book VI, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 44, pl. 8. The present box is probably one of the smallest in the series that were produced during the Wanli period designed with the 'boys at play' theme. A related small box and cover of rectangular form (11.7 cm. long and 7.8 cm. wide) decorated with four boys seated in a garden landscape, in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book VI, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 44, pl. 8. 

Lot 3807. A very rare underglaze-blue moulded 'dragon' stemcup, gaozu wan, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, late 14th century; 4 3/8 in. (10.9 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 500,000 - HKD 700,000. Price Realized HKD 1,220,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The upright sides fluidly and expertly painted in vibrant tones of purplish underglaze-blue with a three-clawed dragon purposefully striding in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' between single line borders in a contrasting blue of paler tone, and on the interior with a narrow band of classic scroll at the everted rim and an eight-petalled floret to the centre, the well decorated in crisp slip decoration with two four-clawed dragons chasing after further 'flaming pearls', the whole raised on a horizontally ribbed and spreading stem, box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection

Note: A stemcup of similar form and decoration to that of the present example is in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 14, no. 12. The Palace Museum example, dated to the Yuan dynasty, is also moulded with similar striding dragons on the interior but has an additional plantain leaf band in underglaze-blue around the stem foot. It has been mentioned that glazes of blue and white wares of the mid-Yuan period have a greyish tinge, which by the late Yuan had become more lustrous, ibid, p. 14. Judging from the brilliance of the glaze and richness of the cobalt-blue, it is possible that the stemcup dates to the late Yuan, or perhaps early Hongwu period.

The vibrant underglaze-blue colour and painting style of the dragon, together with the 'bamboo'-form stem foot are also characteristics found on a larger stemcup (14 cm. high) excavated in Nanjing in 1970 from the tomb of Wang Xingzu dated to the 4th year of the Hongwu period (AD 1371), now in the Nanjing Museum. The excavated example was originally reported in Kaogu 1972:4, p. 32 and pl. 6, figs. 1 and 2; and published again by Wang Qingzheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 31, dated to the late Yuan/early Ming dynasty. As with the present example, the exterior has a three-clawed underglaze-blue dragon and two moulded four-clawed dragons to the interior. 

Compare a similar stem cup from the Palmer Collection illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London 1954, pl. 2A and by E. Bluett, 'Chinese Works of Art in English Collections: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. R.H.R. Palmer - I', Apollo, April 1958, pl. 160, fig. VIII(c), later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 17 January 1989, lot 561, and later in the collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, illustrated by J. Ayers in the Catalogue, 1990, no. 57. Another very similar example in the A. Brankston collection was illustrated by S. Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1953, pl. 3c (iii) and two similar examples from the collection of Mrs. Otto Harriman and the other in the collection of Lord Cunliffe were included by the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 14th to 19th Centuries, London, December 1953 - January 1954, nos. 11 and 12. 

Lot 3819. An extremely rare and very large early Ming tianbai-glazed charger, Yongle period (1403-1425); 16 in. (40.6 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,500,000. Price Realized HKD 1,220,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Sturdily potted with rounded sides, supported on a wedge-shaped foot ring, covered in an even unctuous transparent glaze, box.

Note: Among sherds excavated from the Yongle stratum, the most abundant are white glazed wares, particularly those decorated with tianbai or 'sweet white' glaze. It has been mentioned that the term tianbai was an appellation related to sugar, and the name appeared as early as 1591 as recorded in text written by Huang Yizheng, Shiwu Ganzhu, cf. Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 71. Further tests on the body material of tianbai wares, it is discovered that in order to produce this distinctive colour, the potters had increased the proportion of kaolin in the clay. This would have required a higher firing temperature and thus resulted in the white paste.

The increased number of white wares during the Yongle period was probably due to the personal taste of the Emperor and his liking for white as a colour is exemplified by the Bao'ensi Pagoda which was built with a facade of white bricks, ibid., 1989, pp. 72-73. 

Lot 3830. A very rare late Ming yellow-ground green-enamelled incised 'Three friends' bowl, Jiajing six-character mark and of the period (1522-1566); 7 in. (17.8 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 900,000 - HKD 1,200,000. Price Realized HKD 1,220,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The rounded sides finely incised with a bamboo, flower prunus tree and a pine tree, each with their branches twisted to form the characters, Fu, Lu and Shou, 'Happiness, Wealth and Longevity', growing on a ground, evenly spaced between stylised lingzhi fungus under ruyi-shaped clouds, enamelled in green against a rich egg-yolk yellow ground, the interior similarly decorated with an incised upright dragon within a medallion, box.

Note: The present bowl belongs to a very small group of similarly decorated examples with incised decorations that have been enamelled against a different coloured enamel ground. The motifs are cleverly designed on the bowl and effectively conveys multiple meanings to auspicious imagaries. In this instance, whilst the bamboo itself is commonly associated with the virtuous gentleman, it is twisted to form the character Fu or 'Happiness' or 'Blessings'. The flowering prunus - a symbol of spring as it blooms in March - is formed into the character, Lu, or 'Emolument' or 'Wealth'; and finally the pine, a symbol of longevity, is rendered in its written, Shou, form. Furthermore, the combination of the pine, bamboo and prunus forms the "Three Friends of Winter".

Compare with two comparable Jiajing-marked bowls, both incised with figures in landscape on the exterior and interior with floral scrolls: the first illustrated in Enamelled Ware of The Ming Dynasty, Book II, Porcelain of the National Palace Museum, CAFA, 1966, pp. 60-61, pls 7 & 7a; and the other from the Kempe Collection was sold at Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 4. Also compare related smaller bowl with straight rather than everted mouthrims, as with the present and bowls cited above, from the George de Menasce Collection, included in the exhibition, Chinese Art, Venice, 1954, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 715, incised with dragon and phoenix. 

Lot 3828. A rare Ming doucai dish, Jiajing six-character mark within double-squares and of the period (1522-1566); 5 3/4 in. (14.8 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 200,000. Price Realized HKD 1,160,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The shallow flared sides with sharply-angled base supported on a narrow ring foot, the exterior decorated with a frieze of detached lingzhi sprays in underglaze-blue, iron-red and yellow with underglaze-blue outlines, beneath a double line encircling the rim, the flat centre on the interior decorated with a medallion of interlaced ruyi-heads and petals in the same colours with the addition of pale green, enclosing a yellow circle, within a yellow ring border with underglaze-blue outlines, the characteristic waxy glaze burnt orange in a thin line where it meets the unglazed footrim, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Mayuyama Ryusendo, Tokyo, Japan

Literature Mayuyama, 70 years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1975, no. 836

Note: Compare with two very similar dishes, also bearing Jiajing six-character marks within double-squares, illustrated in Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2003, nos. 187 and 188. An example is also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.185. Compare also a number of examples sold at auction including one at Christie's Hong Kong, 25 October 1993, lot 730; and two at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25 April 2004, lot 221 and 31 October 2004, lot 116. 

Lot 3823. A rare early Ming tianbai-glazed monk's cap ewer, sengmaohu, Yongle period (1403-1424); 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price Realized HKD 1,100,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The globular body tapering towards the splayed foot, with a pronounced ridge at the base of the slightly flared neck and the elongated, curved spout which projects from the galleried rim of 'monk's cap' outline, the peak of the rim rising above a small lug on the interior and beside the incised ruyi-head tab surmounting the curved strap-handle moulded with a median ridge and terminating on the high shoulder with another ruyihead, box.

The property of Dr Elizabeth Shing.

Note: This particular ewer form is a Lamaist Buddhist ritual vessel, which takes its name, sengmaohu monk's cap ewer, from the shape of its upper section, which resembles a Tibetan monk's hat. The Tibetan shape has its origins in the Yuan dynasty. Ewers of this form were made for the visit of the fifth Tibetan hierarch, Halima, to Nanjing in 1407, where he was invited by the Yongle emperor to officiate at religious services.

Among these and the gifts presented to high Tibetan Lamas would have been 'sweet white' monk's cap ewers similar to the current example. A number are still preserved in Tibet, and an example from the Tibet Museum was exhibited at the Shanghai Museum in 2001. See Treasures from Snow mountains - Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, 2001, p. 177, no. 88. A similar ewer from the collection of Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p.109, pl. 100. 

Lot 3818. A rare moulded Longquan celadon baluster jar, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, 14th century; 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 380,000 - HKD 450,000. Price Realized HKD 980,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Sturdily potted with broad rounded shoulders and a short waisted neck, decorated around the sides with figures of the Eight Immortals, each animatedly posing and holding their respective characteristic instruments, all covered with an olive-green glaze.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28-29 April 1992, lot 22.

Note: It is very rare to find a Longquan celadon jar moulded with figures. A related jar of similar size decorated with sprays of peach and pomegranate alternating with Chinese four characters is illustrated by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. I, London, 1968, pl. 108; another jar of similar design reserved in biscuit was sold at Christie's London, 21 June 2001, lot 94.

Lot 3829. A rare late Ming wucai bowl, Wanli six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1573-1619); 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 150,000. Price Realized HKD 920,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

With shallow rounded sides rising to a slightly everted rim from a short foot, painted in underglaze and enamelled on the exterior with nine children at play in a landscape scene, below a band of stylised waves around the rim, the interior with a simplified dragon within double-circles, blue borders at the interior rim and foot ring, box.

Lot 3822. A fine and very rare early Ming tianbai-glazed stembowl, Yongle period (1403-1424); 6 in. (15.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 700,000 - HKD 900,000. Price Realized HKD 860,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The bowl is finely potted with deep rounded sides flaring at the rim and supported on a slightly splayed hollow stem base, covered overall with an even milky-white transparent glaze, box.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 607.

Note: The soft, unctuous, so-called tianbai, 'sweet-white', glaze on the current stembowl appears to have been developed in the Yongle reign. This may have been in response to the Emperor's particular fondness for white vessels. This preference for white porcelains can clearly be seen in the results of excavations at the imperial kilns, where more than ninety percent of the excavated porcelains from the Yongle strata are white. The 'sweet white' glaze bears a strong resemblance to fine white jade and it is possible that this was the intention, since palace records note that on one occasion the emperor returned all the elaborate and costly gifts presented to him, keeping only those made of plain white jade.

There are a number of published examples of anhua-decorated Yongle stembowls, with and without marks. There appear to be no published examples of undecorated stembowls from the Yongle period, although undecorated tianbai or 'sweet white' wares do exist, as mentioned by Geng Baochang, Ming Qing Ciqi Jianding, Forbidden City Press, 1993, p. 36. Evidence from excavation at Jingdezhen indicates that stembowls without decoration were produced; cf. Imperial Porcelains of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 84, where a similar stembowl bearing an anhua Yongle mark is illustrated, p. 85, no. 1. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3811. A fine and very rare carved early Ming Longquan celadon deep bowl, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price Realized HKD 800,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Finely carved to the exterior with a deatached floral sprigs including day-lily, chrysanthemum, peony and camellia flowers, below a lingzhi scroll within double-line borders at the rim, the interior with a central stylised floral bloom surrounded by a wide composite floral scroll, covered overall in a rich bubble-suffused glaze of sea-green tone, lacquered wood cover, Japanese box.

Provenance: Higashi Honganji Temple. Kyoto
A Japanese private collection.

Note: The shape of this bowl is extremely rare for Longquan celadon wares. The lacquer lid suggests that this bowl served as a water container in the Japanese tea ceremony.

A number of bowls of similar form carved with varying combinations of flowers were included in the National Palace Museum, Taipei exhibition Green-Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, nos. 16 - 22. Compare also the undecorated bowl closest in form to the present example included in the same exhibition, no. 14.

The form and similarities in the decoration can also be seen in blue and white bowls of the Yongle period. Compare a Yongle period blue and white basin with peony scroll to well and detached fruiting branches to the exterior from the Walter Hochstadter Collection sold at Christie's New York, 18 March 2009, lot 518. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3827. A fine and very rare blue and white 'mythical beast' bowl, Wanli six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1573-1619); 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price Realized HKD 800,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Painted with a fanciful scene of five-clawed dragons and mythical beasts in a tree-strewn landscape including a qilin as well as lion-headed, horse-headed, deer-headed, elephant-headed creatures and a conch, between a band of fruiting sprigs at the rim and precious emblems surrounding the base, the interior painted with a central medallion containing a full-face dragon in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl', Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: The creatures depicted on the present bowl appear to be a stylised interpretation of a design known as the 'Sea Creatures' predominantly found on ceramics of the Xuande and Chenghua periods. A Chenghua blue and white dish from the Qing Court collection with a similar combination of creatures including a winged elephant, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 11, no. 9. In this publication the nine sea creatures are named as: dragon, horse, lion, turtle, elephant, deer, goat, conch and qilin. However, a wider range of different creatures also appear as part of this group, including fox, sea mollusc, antelope, dog, flying fish, flying shrimp, and other completely unidentifiable creatures.

No other Wanli-marked blue and white bowls of this rare pattern appear to have been published although elements can be found on other published examples of bowls decorated with mythical scenes from the Wanli period. Compare the fruiting sprig border beneath the rim as well as the interior 'dragon' roundel with an example decorated with a scene of LI Ji slaying a snake included in the University of Hong Kong exhibition The Fame of Flame, Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, Hong Kong, 2009, Catalogue no. 80. A related Wanli-marked jar with a similar scene of more conventional animals and creatures was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2007, lot 311. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3821. An early Ming blue and white small barbed-rim dish, Yongle period (1403-1425); 7 3/4 in. (19.8 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price Realized HKD 680,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The eight barbs on the rim continuing into the well, finely painted in vivid cobalt tones at the centre with two pomegranate flowerheads borne on a leafy stem issuing further small buds within lobed double-line borders, the well divided into eight fluted panels, each filled with alternating pomegranate flowerheads and fruits below a continuouslingzhi scroll around the moulded rim, the underside of the well repeating the pomegranate design on the interior, all with extensive heaping and piling, the base unglazed, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: A Yongle dish of almost identical size and design was sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 September 2002, lot 105; and a second from the Norton and R.H.R Palmer Collections, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 17 January 1989, lot 562. Two Yongle bracket-lobed dishes of comparable size and similarly decorated with registers of various flowerheads include one included in Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clarke, London, 1974, no. 7, and later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 November 1999, lot 314; and another from the Hobart and F. Gordon Morrill Collections was sold at Doyle New York, 16 September 2003, lot 80. 

A Hongwu prototype of this design, made as a cup stand, with the petal collar in the centre painted onto a raised ring, was recovered from the Imperial Kiln site and included in the exhibitions Jingdezhen Ware, the Yuan Evolution, The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1984, no. 141, and Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, no. 18.

This design is also known with waves decorating the rim; compare a dish of this type in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum's exhibition Mingdai chunian ciqi tezhan, Taipei, 1982, no. 42. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3815. A rare early Ming Longquan celadon meiping, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price Realized HKD 620,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The stoutly potted body tapering to a spreading foot with square-cut rim and the rounded shoulder rising to a short conical neck, covered overall with a lightly crackled glaze of soft olive-green tone, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: Undecorated Longquan meiping dating to the early Ming dynasty are rare. An example of identical size to the present vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei was included in the exhibition Green-Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, pp. 132-133, no. 65. A meiping and cover dated to the Yuan or early Ming dynasty is illustrated in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, no. 125. Another meiping and cover formerly in the The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3104. An example in the Tokyo National Museum is published in Chinese Ceramics, Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1965, p. 95, no. 387. Another similar example was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 November 2004, lot 561. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3826. A rare pair of blue and white octafoil saucers, Longqing six-character marks within double circles and of the period (1567-1572); 5 in. (12.5 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price Realized HKD 437,500. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Each shallow dish with eight bracket lobes, the centre painted with a monkey and deer below a fruiting peach tree in a terraced landscape, the well with a circular lotus pond.

Provenance: Previously sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 622.

Note: Limited quantities of porcelain wares were produced during the short reign of the emperor Longqing. Only two other dishes of this shape and design appear to be recorded. The first dish, from the Morris S. Whitehouse Collection, is illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1957, p. 35, pl. 52A, where the author mentioned that 'the Imperial factory seems to have been closed during the earlier years of the reign, and a large order for more than a hundred thousand pieces was placed in 1571 because supplies for the palace had run short'. The second dish, formerly in the Jarras Collection, sold at Christie's London, 5 July 1983, lot 283, is illustrated by A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, 1984, p. 32, no. 5, and subsequently sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Robert Chang Collection, 31 October 2000, lot 812.

Compare also two further underglaze-blue Longqing-marked dishes of this shape but with enamelled decoration, one dish with dragons is illustrated by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, no. A193; the other was included in the exhibition, Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1987, part II, no. 73. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Lot 3814. A rare early Ming moulded Longquan celadon barbed-rim cup stand, Hongwu period (1368-1398); 7 1/2 in. (19 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price Realized HKD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Decorated to the centre with a flower spray encircled by a raised border to hold a cup and a composite floral scroll, all below the shallow, petal-moulded sides and a band of classic scroll on the correspondingly barbed rim, covered overall in a translucent thick green glaze thinning on the raised areas, with an unglazed footring on the concave base burnt brown in the firing, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: Compare the similar cup stand illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 486, no. 16:62. Another similar example was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2007, lot 291.

The shape and decoration on this cup stand is based on blue and white and underglaze red examples from Jingdezhen which were also made during the Hongwu period. For a blue and white example see the cup stand excavated at Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen, in 1994, illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, pp. 100-1, no. 17, where a cup is also shown. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall

Cham. Goddess Sri, 10th century. Grey sandstone, 32 x 24 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.H. Ellsworth Ltd., 1989.147. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.147_SL1.jpg)

This sculpture is a lintel of Shri Lakshmi, which would have been located above the main door of a Champa temple. It came from Tra Kieu village, in the present province of Quangnam, a site formerly named Simhapura (the city of the Lion), in the ancient capital of Amaravati in the Champa kingdom.

Tra Kieu village is about 50 km from Danang in the southern province of Vietnam. Most of the characteristic artifacts that were found at Tra Kieu have been displayed in the Danang Museum of Champa Sculpture. The Champa temples were constructed with bricks, combined with decorative sandstone sculptural works. In this lintel dating from the seventh to the eighth centuries, Shri Lakshmi is presented as a goddess who appears popularly in Champa sculpture as well as poetic inscriptions.

The kingdom of Champa was established at the end of the second century. It had many trading centers that spread along the coast of central Vietnam. The main economic base of the Champa kingdom was maritime trade, through which they maintained contact with the commerce and culture of India, China, and the Arabian peninsula.

Text provided by Tran Ky Phuong, Curator, Museum of Champa Sculpture, Danang, Vietnam.