XUANDE SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1426-1435)

The current bowl takes its name, lianzi wan (lotus bowl) from its resemblance to a lotus pod. The form originated in the Yongle period, and retained its popularity through the reign of Xuande, as demonstrated by a group of Xuande-marked lianzi bowls in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 360-377, nos. 153-161.

The double-petal and wave band decoration on the exterior of this bowl is rarely seen. Compare two bowls held in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published respectively in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 154 (fig. 1) and the Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci, vol. 2, Beijing, 2002, pl. 150; one held in the British Museum bequeathed by Dr Stephen Wootton Bushell illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2000, p. 134, fig. 4:27; one in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 633; and finally one from the YC Chen Collection sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1931.