: The crowded auction room at Bonhams & Butterfields burst into
applause seconds after a record-setting price was attained for a
rare and large example of a Ming underglaze copper red dish
recently discovered within a San Francisco estate. The dish, for
years used to serve meals to a Bay Area family, sold for
$5,726,250 on November 17 after competitive bidding via telephone
from three international clients.
The magnificent 18-inch-diameter dish dates from the Hongwu
period (1368-98) - the era in which Zhu Yuanzhang, the first
emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned. As one of very few
surviving large underglaze copper-red circular everted rim dishes
from this era, it appears to have the most brilliant color of all
known and published examples.
The dish came to auction from the San Francisco estate of Elinor
Majors Carlisle, and was cautiously carried on a global tour (New
York, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco) during which time museum
curators, private collectors and high-end dealers inspected the
piece. The successful bidder was Giuseppe Eskenazi of London, one
of the world's most respected dealers of Asian art.
A complete review will appear in a future issue.
