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Lot Essay
Song dynasty Junyao narcissus bowls made for the Imperial palace were typically covered on the base with a brown wash and were almost always incised with a numeral ranging from 1-10, which is often thought to refer to its size - the smaller the number, the larger its size. As such, the present lot and its counterparts numbered 'one' would be the largest in size among the group of bulb bowls.
Cf. other Junyao bowls incised with the numeral 'one' and of similar size, four examples included in the exhibition A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum: Chun Ware, National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1999, illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 27-30; one sold in these Rooms, 1 May 1995, lot 637; one previously from the Eumorfopoulos Collection, sold in our London Rooms, 15 June 1998, lot 86; and another sold in these Rooms, 31 October 2000, lot 852.
Several other bowls of this shape and comparable size have been published: the examples in the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and in the Tokyo National Museum are illustrated by M. Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982, pls. 147 and 171 respectively. Three similar bowls are in London collections: one in the Percival David Foundation is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kondasha Series, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 6, no. 51; a second is illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, no. 103; and the third is in the British Museum, illustrated by R. L. Hobson, Handbook of the Pottery and Porcelain of the Far East, London, 1948, pl. VIII, fig. 41. Several other examples from the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, vol. 32, pls. 24-28.
Cf. other Junyao bowls incised with the numeral 'one' and of similar size, four examples included in the exhibition A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum: Chun Ware, National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1999, illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 27-30; one sold in these Rooms, 1 May 1995, lot 637; one previously from the Eumorfopoulos Collection, sold in our London Rooms, 15 June 1998, lot 86; and another sold in these Rooms, 31 October 2000, lot 852.
Several other bowls of this shape and comparable size have been published: the examples in the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and in the Tokyo National Museum are illustrated by M. Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982, pls. 147 and 171 respectively. Three similar bowls are in London collections: one in the Percival David Foundation is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kondasha Series, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 6, no. 51; a second is illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, no. 103; and the third is in the British Museum, illustrated by R. L. Hobson, Handbook of the Pottery and Porcelain of the Far East, London, 1948, pl. VIII, fig. 41. Several other examples from the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, vol. 32, pls. 24-28.