HARTFORD, Conn. (AP): Talk about garden sale findings. A small porcelain bowl bought for $ 35 at a sale in the Connecticut garden turned out to be a rare 15th-century Chinese artifact worth between $ 300,000 and $ 500,000 that is about to go up for auction at Sotheby’s.
The white bowl adorned with cobalt blue flower paints and other designs is about 16 inches in diameter. An antiques enthusiast came across the piece and thought it might be something special when examining a garden sale in the New Haven area last year, according to Sotheby’s.
The piece, one of only seven bowls known in the world, will go up for auction in New York on March 17 as part of Sotheby’s Auction of Important Chinese Art.
The buyer, who is not named, paid the asking price of $ 35 and then emailed information and photos to Sotheby’s to request a review. Chinese pottery and art auction house experts Angela McAteer and Hang Yin receive many such emails every week, but this was one of their dreams.
“It immediately became apparent to both of us that we were looking at something very, very special,” said McAteer, senior vice president of Sotheby’s and head of the Chinese artwork department. “The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of blue, is quite characteristic of this early 15th century porcelain period.”
They confirmed that it was from 1400 onwards that they were able to watch it in person. There is no scientific evidence, only the trained eyes and hands of specialists. The bowl was very soft to the touch, its enamel was silky and the color and designs are distinctive of the era.
“There are all the features and characteristics that identify it as a product of the first Ming period,” McAteer said.
McAteer and Yin determined that the bowl dates back to the early 1400s during the reign of Emperor Yongle, the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty, and was destined for the Yongle court. Yongle track is known to have introduced a new style to porcelain kilns in Jingdezhen city, and the bowl is a quintessential Yongle product, according to Sotheby’s.
The bowl was made in the shape of a lotus sprout or chicken heart. Inside, it is decorated with a medallion at the bottom and a four-leaf motif surrounded by flowers. The exterior includes four lotus flowers, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate blossom. There are also intricate patterns on the top of the outside and inside.
McAteer said only six other bowls are known, and most are in museums. There are no more in the United States. There are two in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, two in the museums in London and one in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, according to Sotheby’s.
It remains a mystery how the bowl ended up in a sale in the Connecticut garden. McAteer said it is possible that it was passed down to generations of the same family who did not know how unique it was.
“It’s always pretty amazing to think that it still happens, that these treasures can be discovered,” McAteer said. “It’s always very exciting for us as specialists when something we didn’t even know existed here appears out of nowhere.”