Page 38 - Sotheby's May 10th 2017 London Important Chinese Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

125 This pair of dishes is striking for their rich yellow glaze, a colour
that was strictly reserved for wares for the imperial court. This
A PAIR OF FINE AND RARE IMPERIAL ‘imperial yellow’ glaze was produced at the imperial kilns in
YELLOW GLAZED DISHES Jingdezhen throughout the Ming dynasty and was achieved
ZHENGDE MARKS AND PERIOD by adding ferric oxide (3.5 %) to the lead silicate base, making
this glaze a direct descendant of the yellow lead glazes of the
the shallow rounded sides of each rising from a short tapered Tang dynasty. Deceptively simple in form and colour, light-
foot to a slightly everted rim, applied overall with an even coloured monochrome porcelains required the highest level of
glaze of rich egg-yolk tone, the base left white and inscribed skill and precision in the purity of the clay, potting, glazing and
in underglaze blue with a six-character mark within a double
circle ring. Due to the minimalist nature of the pieces, where form
(2) and glaze worked together in perfect harmony, the slightest
15.3 cm, 6⅛ in. irregularity would result in their rejection and destruction.

PROVENANCE Dishes of this form and glaze include one in the British
Sotheby’s London, 14th March 1972, lot 142 (£2,600). Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming
Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 8:28;
಴£ 50,000-70,000 another included in the Inaugural Exhibition. Chinese Ceramics,
HK$ 483,000-675,000 US$ 62,500-87,000 Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1993, vol. 2, cat. no. 148; a
pair included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Monochrome
1972 3 14 142 2 600 Ceramics of Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of
Art, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 81; and a further dish illustrated
in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection,
London, 1985, pl. 69. See also a dish of this type from the
Edward T. Chow collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th
May 1981, lot 457; and another from the collection of the R.E.R.
Lu Will Trust, sold in these rooms, 26th June 1973, lot 29.

36 SOTHEBY’S