AN UNUSUAL BISCUIT-DECORATED LONGQUAN CELADON 'BOYS' BOWL AND RETICULATED STAND MING DYNASTY, 14TH CENTURY

elegantly potted, of octagonal form, flaring from an angle to a wide mouth and resting on a tapered circular foot, the centre on the interior moulded with an octagonal medallion with two fish among formal lotus blooms and leaves, the inner walls with quatrefoil begonia-shaped panels depicting cranes in different poses among lotus flowers, and smaller elongated panels with three ruyi motifs above, the exterior crisply moulded with eight further panels reserved in the biscuit, of conforming shape, enclosing boys at play in garden settings, picking or holding flowers, and one seated in a tub, covering eyes and ears while being doused with water, all above simply carved lotus petals and a key-fret border encircling the foot, the bowl thickly applied with a yellowish-green glaze save for the unglazed exterior panels and a ring on the base fired brick red, the reticulated stand of hexagonal form, the flat top with a circular opening resting on a gallery of biscuit-fired openwork panels impressed with chrysanthemum sprays, above a curved pedestal with twelve ruyi-shaped legs joined by a stretcher, similarly glazed overall in a yellowish-green tone save for the panels

Eskenazi Ltd, London.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1606.

There are three long hairline cracks to the rim, two running along the joints between the sides and extending onto the bottom of the bowl, likely to be original to firing, another approx 8 cm. transversal and running down in a diagonal from the rim, a few minor imperfections and kiln grits in the glaze. The base is in good condition with only some expected minor imperfections and grits. The actual colours are quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

This style of decoration with impressed biscuit panels is well known from octagonal vases of Longquan celadon, where the panels generally show immortals or flowers. Bowls with such biscuit decoration are extremely rare, and so is the biscuit design of boys at play.

An almost identical, but somewhat smaller bowl in the Guangdong Provincial Museum, Guangzhou, is published in Zhu Boqian, Longquan yao qingci/Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, no. 195, and again in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 10, pl. 78. For an octagonal stem bowl decorated in similar style with begonia-shaped biscuit panels depicting herons among lotus, see the exhibition catalogue Mostra d’Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, no. 445. An octagonal meiping with biscuit panels depicting the Eight Immortals, from the Eumorfopoulos collection in the British Museum, London, is published in R.L. Hobson.  Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1915 (repr. New York, 1976), pl. 21, fig. 2. A similar stand was sold in our Los Angeles rooms, 5th June 1980, lot 1352.