AN INCISED GREEN-GROUND SAUCER-DISH WANLI MARK AND PERIOD

the slightly rounded sides rising to a gently flaring rim, incised in the center with an archaic style four-sided gu-form vase containing three branches of flowering peony and two branches of flowering prunus, encircled by eight yellow-ground 'treasures' trailing aubergine ribbons, the underside with six lingzhi, six-character incised mark

Collection of Edward Arthur Lane (1909-1963), former keeper of the department of ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Collection of R.H.R. Palmer (1898-1970), no. 239.

Oriental Ceramic Society, The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1957, Catalogue, no. 208.

Marchant, Ltd., Ming Porcelain, London, 2009, no. 45.

The dish with three very fine hairline cracks, one with an associated 1/4 inch (4mm) 'V' - shaped break which has been repaired. Several small restored rim frits and the foot ring has been ground down.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Several dishes of this unusual group are known but of different sizes and varying considerably in the shape of the central vase and number and placement of flowering branches.

A pair of slightly smaller dishes is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 1, Geneva, 1999, p. 176, no. 105 (A206). Two similar but larger dishes in the Musée Guimet, Paris (G.2852), are illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, p. 204, no. 203; and in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo; New York, vol. 7, 1981, no 77 and vol. 6, 1982,  no. 182.