An unusual iron-red-ground blue and white 'Scholar's' stembowl, 17th century

An unusual iron-red-ground blue and white 'Scholar's' stembowl, 17th century. Photo: Sotheby's

decorated on the exterior with a continuous scene of eighteen scholars engaged in the 'Four Accomplishments', a few playing weiqi, some admiring a painting, and others rading poetry, an attendant carrying a qin off into the distance, the interior further painted with a scholar reading a book in a garden setting. Diameter 5 5/8 in., 14.2 cm. Estimation 6,000 — 8,000 USD

A similar example of this rare type in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is published in Rose Kerr & Rosemary Scott, Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, Singapore & London, 1994, p. 21, cat. 31.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 18 Mar 2014, 10:30 AM - www.sothebys.com