Page 62 - Christie's King St, November 8, 2016

58
A RARE EARLY MING BLUE-GLAZED DISH
XUANDE INCISED SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES
AND OF THE PERIOD (1426-1435)

The interior and exterior are covered in a deep blue glaze, and the mouth is bound
with a copper rim.
7 in. (17.8 cm.) diam.

£80,000-120,000 $110,000-150,000

€92,000-140,000

PROVENANCE

The collection of Wu Lai-hsi (d. 1949/50), Sotheby’s London, 26 May 1937, lot 69.
The collection of Alfred Clark (1873 - 1950), Sotheby’s London, 24 March 1953, lot 50.

Monochrome blue porcelains of the Xuande reign are very rare, despite the fact that
from early in the Hongwu reign (AD 1370) it was decreed that ceramic wares should
be used for oficial sacrifces at the Imperial altars, and blue was the prescribed
colour for ritual vessels at the Tiantan, the Altar of Heaven. This high-fring cobalt
blue, along with the copper red and ‘sweet’ white, was regarded as one of the three
great glaze colours of the Xuande reign by connoisseurs of the Qianlong period
(1736-95). The Xuande monochrome cobalt blue is especially fne with a richness of
colour due not only to the quality of the cobalt but also to the thickness with which
the glaze was applied.

明宣德 藍釉盤 雙圈六字楷書款

來源: Wu Lai-Hsi 先生 (?-1949/50)舊藏, 倫敦蘇富比1937年5月26日拍賣, 拍
品69號; 英國藏家Alfred Clark先生 (1873-1950)舊藏, 倫敦蘇富比1953年3月24
日拍賣, 拍品50號

60 FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART