A VERY RARE ANHUA-DECORATED TIANBAI 'CHRYSANTHEMUM' BOWLYongleDelicately potted in the shape of a lotus budlianzi and finely painted in the 'sweet white'tianbai glaze, with deep rounded sides, a slightly pointed base resting on a short, narrow foot with a fine line encircling it, the footring left unglazed, the interior decorated with a wave panel in slip below the rim, the central medallion enclosing a formalized chrysanthemum motif surrounded by a band of chrysanthemum petals, the cavetto of the exterior with six alternating peony and chrysanthemum blossoms borne on undulating leafy foliate scrolls, all below a key-fret panel, box.20.3cm (8in) diam. (2).For further information on this lot please visit theProvenance: 明永樂 甜白釉暗花纏枝菊紋蓮子碗Provenance:An old Japanese collection (box and label)來源：日本私人舊藏（盒及標簽）The tianbai, also known as sweet-white wares are unique to the Yongle period. They have a lustrous glaze, which is more translucent than that of the Xuande period white wares, achieved by adding a far higher proportion of kaolin to the clay, by reducing limestone in the glaze and by firing at a higher temperature. Refined white and white-glazed wares are favoured by the Yongle emperor to be used for imperial ceremonies, usually undecorated whereas incised with anhua [secret or hidden reign] or moulded slips like on the present lot.Compare with two bowls of similar size and design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Imperial Porcelains from the Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty: Aparison of Porcelains from the Imperial Kiln Site at Jingdezhen and the Imperial Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2015, pl.117; another one in the Taipei National Palace Museum, which is illustrated in the Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika (Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics), Tokyo, 1992, pl.70, p.78; see also an example in the Sir Percival David collection, in the British Museum, London, acc.no.: PDF,A.412. For examples in private collections, see a Yongle lotus-seed bowl with incised floral motif under sweet white glaze, illustrated in Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P. Lin Collection, Hong Kong, 2014, pl.1.口部微外侈，深弧形壁，上豐下斂，尖底，並帶矮圈足，稱為蓮子碗。器內口沿下印波濤紋一圈，週壁為略凸起的菊瓣紋，碗心為折枝菊花紋。外面口沿下刻回紋一道，週壁印纏枝牡丹、菊花紋飾各三朵。暗花即在坯胎施釉前刻花，潔白的瓷胎施純淨的透明釉後，刻花紋飾不會給釉層蓋過，仍然隱約可見。景德鎮御器廠何時設立，確切日期現時尚未有定論，但洪武年間，朝廷曾委派官員前往景德鎮監督瓷器燒製。文獻記載永樂年間宮廷命景德鎮製瓷，一批共三十萬件成品。而白瓷的製作自永樂時期開始更有了重大突破，高嶺土中三氧化二鋁的含量增加，透明釉內減少助熔劑石灰石的成分，避開了白... For further information on this lot please visit the