A LARGE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE DISH, YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1425)

A LARGE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE DISH
YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1425)
The dish is decorated in rich cobalt blue characteristically 'heaped and piled' with chrysanthemum scroll within a shaped border, beneath peony scroll in the well and further scroll on the everted rim. The reverse is decorated with further flower blossoms.
15 ¾ in. (40 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Sotheby Parke Bernet Ltd., Hong Kong, 24 November 1981, lot 75.
The Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection, San Antonio, Texas.

Walter Francis Brown (1930-2014) was a native Texan who, after graduating from the University of Texas, established Delray Oil, Inc., in partnership with his uncle, for the exploration and production of oil and gas in Texas and later in Western Canada with W. F. Brown Exploration Ltd. Both companies are located in San Antonio, Texas, and remain active under continued family ownership. Mr. Brown discovered Chinese art in the early 1970s after attending an auction at Christie’s in New York, and then he began exploring art auction catalogues from London, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam, New York and Hong Kong. He loved studying and looking at the arts of Asia. He particularly responded to the subtle and restrained aesthetics of Chinese Song ceramics, and the powerful extravagance of Ming and Qing porcelains. For over 40 years in addition to his prolific oil and gas businesses, he regularly made his way through a plethora of auction and dealer catalogues which he enjoyed studying with great enthusiasm. He was an eager buyer and acquired works of art from auctions and dealers throughout the world. Walter and his wife, Lenora, were generous philanthropists and were inspired by many public Asian art collections, especially the Musée Guimet in Paris. They established the Asian collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas. Their vision resulted in the creation of an encyclopedic collection of the arts of China and Japan, to the delight of the people of Texas and visitors from around the world. Over the years, Mr. Brown established enduring friendships with many of the major collectors, dealers and museum professionals of the day, and his death in 2014 has left a void in the listing of long time, traditional Asian art collectors in America.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF LENORA AND WALTER F. BROWN