Page 69 - Sotheby's Speelman Collection Oct. 3, 2018

Cloisonné enamel alms bowls of this size and quality dating
to the 15th century are rare. The closest related example
at auction is a slightly larger alms bowl of near identical
decoration, differing from the current example with a narrower
band of lappets at the foot, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th
May 2007, lot 1435.
This classic design of lotus flowers is found on several
examples dating to the Xuande period. See a Xuande reign-
marked disc originally in the collections of Stephen Winkworth
and Sir Percival David, now in the Uldry collection at the
Rietberg Museum, illustrated in Helmut Brinker and Albert
Lutz, Chinese cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, London,
1989, pl. 1
There has been speculation in the past that Jingtai reign-
marked wares of the quality of the current alms bowl,
stylistically similar to Xuande wares, are in fact of the Xuande
period but with later incised marks. The delicately incised
Jingtai six-character mark on the current vessel is similar
to that on a circular cloisonné enamel box and cover in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, similarly enamelled with
lotus flowers, and catalogued as Jingtai mark and period,
illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasty,
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, cat. no. 1. It is also
related to the Jingtai mark on the dish from the Speelman
collection, sold in these rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot 3406.

GEMS OF CHINESE ART — THE SPEELMAN COLLECTION II 67