Lot description
A FINE EARLY MING BLUE AND WHITE 'GRAPES' DISH YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1435) Sturdily potted with shallow, gently rounded sides rising to an angled everted rim, painted in vivid graduated tones of underglaze-blue with three clusters of grapes suspended from slender branches bearing coiling tendrils and broad leaves, all enclosed within a double-circle, the cavetto encircled by a continuous composite floral scroll, repeated with slight variations to the exterior, with twelve blooms including lotus, camellia, lily, aster, chrysanthemum, gardenia, morning glory and lingzhi on an undulating leafy stem, the flattened rim with a border of crested waves, the smooth unglazed base burnt slightly orange, the purplish blue cobalt with characteristic 'heaping and piling' effect and the glaze with an even soft blue tinge 14 7/8 in. (37.7 cm.) diam., box
