Sotheby’s is selling a blue and white Bajixiang bowl produced for the Xuande emperor (1426-1435).
It's rare for Chinese bowls to have matching lids
The piece is hand-painted with lotus blooms and other floral patterns.
Chinese bowls rarely come with a matching lid.
Only 31 bowls of this form are known to exist. Most (27) are housed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei while four others (including this specimen) are to be found around the world.
This example, formerly in the Edward T Chow collection, was likely used to ritually serve wine.
It’s expected to make around $4.4m-7m when it crosses the block on October 3.
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