A rare iron-red 'fish' bowl Ming Dynasty, Hongzhi/Zhengde period

well potted with deep rounded sides rising from a high slightly tapered foot to a flared mouthrim, the exterior painted in rich iron-red enamel with four carp swimming in mutual pursuit, their scaly bodies and fins detailed with fine lines incised through the enamel, all between a double-line border at the rim and triple line at the foot, the interior with a single carp, within a double-line border repeated at the rim, the base slightly domed

From the Collection of Edward T. Chow.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th November 1980, lot 26. 
Christie's Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot 683. 

Cecile and Michel Beurdeley, La Ceramique Chinoise, Friborg, 1974, pl. 104.

An unmarked dish with this decoration was sold in our London rooms, 15th July 1980, lot 93; and another dish with a four character Zhengde mark, from the collection of Mrs. Enid Lodge and the late Brodie Lodge, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Polychrome Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1950, cat.no. 39, was also sold in our London rooms, 10th December 1968, lot 118.