Page 42 - Sotheby's Imperial Chiense Porcelain Nov 4 2020 London

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A SMALL GE-TYPE BRUSH WASHER This delightful cup is modelled on one of the most enigmatic
YUAN/EARLY MING DYNASTY wares of the Song dynasty, geyao. Understated in its modest
size, simple form and luscious glaze, it displays the coveted
of quatrelobed form, the gently flaring sides rising from a jinsi tiexian, with its fine underlaying network of rust-brown
countersunk base, covered overall including the base with an (golden threads) and large dark-stained (iron wire) crackles.
opaque glaze of soft greyish tone suffused with a matrix of The more usual form for ge brush washers is a flower shape
iron-wire crackle and golden threads, thinning at the rim and with five or more sides, but of this particularly exquisite square
foot to reveal the dark-brown coloured body underneath shape with indented corners, only a few washers appear to be
Width 5 cm, 2 in. recorded. A related cup also attributed to the Yuan or Ming
dynasty, in the Sir Percival David collection and now in the
‡ £ 50,000-70,000 British Museum, London, is published in Illustrated Catalogue
of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares in the Percival
元/明初 仿哥窰四方倭角洗 David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1999, pl. 68.
For the Song prototype, see one in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong
Kong, 1996, no. 21, where it is attributed to the guan kilns,
but further illustrated and described as ge in Bian Yiwen,
Zijincheng de jiyi. Tushuo Qinggong ciqi dang’an. Wenfang juan.
Wenfang ci tezhan [Recollections of the Forbidden Palace. A
file of Qing Palace ceramics illustrations and descriptions. The
Study Room volume], Beijing, 2016, p. 155; another, included in
Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer’s
Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe
Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 267, from the collection of Dr.
P.H.D.S. Wikramaratna, subsequently sold in our Hong Kong
rooms, 2nd April 2018, lot 3046; and a third, from the Edward
T. Chow collection, sold in these rooms, 16th December 1980,
lot 293.

80 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right 81
(which will depend on the individual circumstances). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.