A Fine Early Ming White-Glazed Bowl with Incised and Anhua Decoration, Lianci, Yongle period (1403-1425)

Lot 132. A Fine Early Ming White-Glazed Bowl with Incised and Anhua Decoration, Lianci, Yongle period (1403-1425); 8 1/4in. (21cm.) diam. Falk Collection no. 249. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 110,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2001

Finely potted with deep rounded sides incised on the exterior with a band of slender petals rising from the foot to a band of incised key fret at the rim, the interior decorated in anhua with a central chrysanthemum sprig below a band of leafy scroll alternately bearing three chrysanthemum and three peony blossoms in the well and a narrow band of waves below the rim, all beneath a white glaze of subtle bluish tone, box and stand.

Provenance: M.C. Wang Collection, Shanghai.
Edward T. Chow Collection.
Mathias Komor, 1953. 

Literature: H.D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collections of Chinese Ceramics from the Hall of Leisurely Pastime, in two volumes, Hong Kong, 1950, vol. II, no. 86, pp. 64-5, where it is described as a pair [with listings no. 208/collection no. 250].
M. Komor, Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, New York, 1951, no. 23, where it is also described as a pair [with listing no. 208/collection no. 250]. 

Exhibited: Ming Porcelains, A Retrospective, New York, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, 1970, no. 8. 

Note: The incised and molded decoration on this bowl is closely linked to blue and white porcelains of the same period, such as the bowl from the Eli Lilly Collection, Indianapolis Museum of Art, illustrated by S. Valenstein in the catalogue for the exhibition, Ming Porcelains, A Retrospective, 1970, p. 33, no. 5, where one can clearly see the interior decoration, which is not as easily discernable in the anhua rendition of the present bowl. According to the author, the blue and white example does not have a chrysanthemum sprig in the center.

Christie's. THE FALK COLLECTION I: FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 16 October 2001, New York