Page 95 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

Notable for its broad proportions and confidently incised
lines on the interior, bowls of such large size and with bold
sprig-moulded motifs reserved on the biscuit are archetypal
products of the Longquan kilns during the Yuan dynasty.
The rise in popularity of blue and white porcelain made
at Jingdezhen, fostered radical changes at the Longquan
kilns. In order to cater for the newly established Mongol
court and their preference for exuberant and bold designs,
the potters of Longquan began producing wares with more
prominent decoration that added interest to the otherwise
monochrome vessels. Combining moulded, incised and
sprig-moulded motifs on a single piece, this bowl testifies to
this trend.
The large proportions of this bowl suggest it was made for
export to the Middle East, where large bowls of this type
were used for communal eating. Large bowls of related form
with moulded floral medallions on the interior, but covered
by the celadon glaze are in the Topkapi Saray Museum,
Istanbul, are illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics
in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, London, 1986, vol.
1, pls 23, 30 and 31. See also a rounder bowl of related
proportions, but with a band of petals on the interior, from
the Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum,
London, illustrated in Margaret Medley, Yuan Porcelain and
Stoneware, London, 1977, pl. 72; another with a barbed
rim, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, published in
Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.
608; and a third from the collection of Shah Abbas (r. 1588-
1629), preserved in the Ardabil Shrine in Iran, illustrated in
T. Misugi, Chinese Porcelain Collections in the Near East.
Topkapi and Ardebil, Hong Kong, 1981, vol. 3, pl. A226. A
further bowl of related form but smaller size and lacking the
floret on the interior, from the collection of Sir Percival David,
in the British Museum, London, is published op.cit., pl. 60b.
The form of this piece is believed to have been inspired by
Persian metal prototypes, such as the bowl attributed to
the 12th-13th century, in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, illustrated in Margaret Medley, Metalwork and
Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, pl. 15.

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