Lot Essay
Three examples in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing are illustrated by Geng Baochang, Gugong guoyu yuancang mingchu qinghua ci, vol. 1, Forbidden City Press, Beijing, 2002, pp. 125-127, nos. 65-67. A closely related example in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Underglaze Blue and Red, 1987, col. pl. 44. Cf. another in the Freer Gallery, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, 1981, vol. 9, pl. 93. The Percival David Foundation also has a comparable bowl, Catalogue, Section 3, no. B637; Feng Xianming illustrates a similar bowl in the Beijing Palace Museum, 'Yongle and Xuande Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Palace Museum', Orientations, November 1987, p. 62, fig. 13, which compares interestingly with another lianzi bowl that was clearly exported at an early date to the Middle East, illustrated by John A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, 1956, pl. 47, 29.326. Compare also to the bowl from the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, 1994, vol. 2, 1995, fig. 670; and a bowl from the Hay, Palmer and Jingguantang Collections sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1871.