Page 87 - March 17, 2020 Impotant Chinese Art, Sotheby's, New York

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A RARE CARVED ‘DING’ ‘LOTUS’ DISH Compare a bowl with a leafy lotus scroll extending across
NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY the interior supporting a seed pod at the top, illustrated in
Selection of Ding Ware: The Palace Museum’s Collection and
the gently rounded sides rising to a metal-bound rim, the Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 163. See also a bowl
center incised with a freely-drawn lotus seed pod and furled with similar motifs, albeit larger and more elaborately carved,
leaves within an incised medallion, the cavetto decorated formerly in the collection of William Cleverley Alexander, sold
with stylized lotus blossoms, Japanese wood box (4) in our London rooms 6th May 1931, lot 48, and recently at
Diameter 8⅞ in., 22.5 cm Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th November 2020, lot 3001.
PROVENANCE
$ 40,000-60,000
Japanese Private Collection.
While the lotus is a common motif on Ding wares, it is very 北宋 定窰白釉刻蓮紋盤
rare to find wares decorated with the plant depicted in all three
stages of growth— seed, leaves, and blossom. The present
piece is finely and freely carved, adding to its sense of refined 來源
spontaneity reminiscent of Song dynasty lotus paintings. 日本私人收藏

226
A RARE SMALL MOLDED ‘DING’ WHITE- Decorated Porcelains of Ding Zhou. White Ding Wares from
GLAZED ‘MANDARIN DUCK’ DISH the Collection of the National Palace Museum, National
NORTHERN SONG / JIN DYNASTY Palace Museum, Taipei, 2014, cat. no. II-127.
Compare other related Ding wares including a slightly larger
finely potted with the gently rounded sides rising from a dish of the same form, but molded with a playful boy amidst
countersunk base, crisply impressed to the interior with a lotus scrolls, sold in our London rooms, 14th May 2008,
mandarin duck in flight, the elegant bird depicted grasping lot 265; and another from the Linyushanren Collection,
a leafy stem in its beak, all amidst dense meandering lotus decorated with a peacock design, sold at Christie’s Hong
scrolls, surrounded by a classic scroll between keyfret bands Kong, 1st December 2015, lot 2813. See also a lobed dish
around the cavetto, covered overall in an ivory-tinged glaze in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, decorated to
pooling in characteristic tear-drops on the exterior, the rim the interior with two similarly depicted birds amidst lotus
metal-bound scrolls, included in the exhibition White Porcelain of Ding Yao,
Diameter 5⅛ in., 13.1 cm Nezu Museum, Tokyo, 1983, cat. no. 134; and another with a
slightly less intricate design, sold in our London rooms, 25th
PROVENANCE March 1975, lot 36.
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 12th April 1969.
Private Collection, and thence by descent.
$ 30,000-50,000
The present dish is notable for the crispness and the
intricacy of the molded design, which testify to the 北宋 / 金 定窰白釉印花鴛鴦穿蓮紋小盤
proficiency of the craftsman and the exceptional quality of
Ding wares achieved during this period. See a closely related
dish of slightly larger size in the National Palace Museum, 來源
Taipei, modeled in the same form and decorated with a very Ralph M. Chait Galleries，紐約，1969年4月12日
similar mandarin duck design, included in the exhibition 私人收藏，此後家族傳承

170 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10644 171