A Chinese Longquan celadon-glazed 'Pipa Ji' moulded bowl 
Ming dynasty, 15th century 
Heavily...

A Chinese Longquan celadon-glazed 'Pipa Ji' moulded bowl 

Ming dynasty, 15th century 

Heavily potted and moulded to the interior, covered overall in a glassy, widely-crackled celadon glaze, the centre of the base unglazed and burnt orange, 18.3cm diameter x 10.5cm high.

Provenance: Ray Thompson collection.

Dries Blitz (1947-2022), Amsterdam.

Import Duty Charged on the Hammer Price

明十五世紀 龍泉青釉模印琵琶記圖紋碗

落槌價徵收進口關稅

This bowl is decorated to the interior with characters from the 14th-century drama Pipa ji [Tale of the Pipa] by the scholar Gao Ming (c. 1305-1370), which recounts the story of the scholar Cai Yong, zi Bojie, and his wife Zhao Wuniang. Each character is identified through an inscription, with Cai Yong depicted riding a mule with attendants, while his wife plays the flute. This drama was particularly acclaimed by the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368-98), who is said to have ordered his actors to perform it daily.

Cf. A bowl of this type in the Baur collection is illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968-74, vol. 1, pl. A 113; another from the collection of George Eumorfopoulos and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection of the Chinese, Corean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1925-8, vol. 2, pl. XXXIV, no. B132. Two similar bowls in the collection of the British Museum, London, are illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pls.16:52 and 16:53