Page 286 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

Impo rtant Chinese Art
New York |23 Sep 2020 | 09:00 AM EDT

Lot 696

A CARVED 'DING' 'LOTUS' BOWL, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
Estimate: 50,000 - 70,000 USD

A CARVED 'DING' 'LOTUS' BOWL
NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
北宋 定窰白釉刻蓮紋葵口盌

the rounded conical sides rising from a low foot and gently everting at the hexalobed rim, the interior freely carved with a lush
lotus blossom amidst curling foliate sprays and feathery leaves, evenly applied with an ivory-tinged glaze pooling in characteristic
'teardrops' on the exterior, the rim and footring unglazed to reveal the fine white body

Diameter 8½ in., 21.5 cm

Catalogue Note
Elegantly potted and deftly carved with motifs from nature, the present bowl is representative of fine Ding ware and the aesthetic
tastes of the Northern Song period. Rising clean out of muddy waters, the lotus was frequently associated with the scholar-official
class during the Song dynasty, as it is symbolic of purity, integrity and the Confucian notion of virtue.

Compare two similar bowls carved with lotus but with metal rims: the first in the collection of the British Museum, London,
illustrated in The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, The British Museum, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 26, the second in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation,
Beijing, 2012, pl. 64. For examples sold at auction, see one with very similar carving to the present, sold at Christie's Hong Kong,
26th November 2018, lot 8005. Another, formerly in the collections of Mrs. Alfred Clark and J.T. Tai, sold in these rooms, 22nd
March 2011, lot 167.

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