Lot 3645. A fine celadon-glazed incised 'bats and waves' bowl, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 937,500 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.
well potted with rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a gently flaring rim, the interior centred with an incised medallion enclosing two soaring bats edged by a band of turbulent waves, the exterior similarly picked out with nine bats hovering above tempestuous waves crashing against rocky outcrops, applied overall save for the base with a translucent sea-green glaze thinning at the rim, the base with a six-character underglaze-blue reign mark within a double-circle, wood stand; 11.9 cm, 4 5/8 in.
Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th November 1989, lot 174.
Notes: Three bowls of this type were sold in these rooms, the first, 25th November 1981, lot 309, the second, 14th November 1989, lot 174, and the third, 1st June 2012, lot 101; one was sold in our London rooms, 7th December 1993, lot 263; and a further example was sold at Christie’s New York, 6th June 1985, lot 447.
Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016