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WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1620)
Details
A VERY RARE WUCAI 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' GARLIC-MOUTH VASE
WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1620)
The pear-shaped body with a tall cylindrical neck rising to a garlic-bulb shaped mouth, the body decorated with iron-red, green and yellow enamels to depict an upright dragon and a descending phoenix contending a flaming pearl, the pair repeated on the reverse side, all amidst floral sprays, the neck similarly decorated between a key-fret band on the upper body and pendent overlapping plantain below the bulbous mouth decorated with beaded jewels suspending precious objects, the mouth rim bearing the reign mark written in a horizontal line, supported on a short ring foot decorated with a band of ruyi heads.
18 1/4 in. (46.6 cm.) high, box
WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1620)
The pear-shaped body with a tall cylindrical neck rising to a garlic-bulb shaped mouth, the body decorated with iron-red, green and yellow enamels to depict an upright dragon and a descending phoenix contending a flaming pearl, the pair repeated on the reverse side, all amidst floral sprays, the neck similarly decorated between a key-fret band on the upper body and pendent overlapping plantain below the bulbous mouth decorated with beaded jewels suspending precious objects, the mouth rim bearing the reign mark written in a horizontal line, supported on a short ring foot decorated with a band of ruyi heads.
18 1/4 in. (46.6 cm.) high, box
Provenance
Tokyo Bijitsu Club, February 1980
Literature
Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1990 p.256, no. 109
Exhibited
Hagi Uragami Museum, One Thousand Years of Jingdezhen, 2007, illustrated on the front cover
Engraved
The present vase belongs to a group of wucai garlic-neck shaped vases dated to the Wanli period where neck and the body are decorated with slightly varying motifs. The current decoration of paired dragon and phoenix contesting a flaming pearl appears to be unique and is probably the most dramatic from this group.
Compare with two related vases, both decorated with pairs of ascending and descending dragons contesting a flaming pearl: the first in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamelled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book III, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1966, p. 31, pl. 1; the other is illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1989, no. 745.
Another variation of the design on the main body is the placid composition of a continuous lotus pond scene detailed with birds and mandarin ducks such as the pair vases in the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated op. cit., 1989, no. 747. Cf. two further 'lotus pond' examples, the first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 6 November 1997, lot 1050; and the other sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2007, lot 525. It is interesting to note that the lotus pond design vases are larger in size (approximately 55 cm. high) compared to the dragon and 'dragon and phoenix' vases.
Compare with two related vases, both decorated with pairs of ascending and descending dragons contesting a flaming pearl: the first in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamelled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book III, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1966, p. 31, pl. 1; the other is illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1989, no. 745.
Another variation of the design on the main body is the placid composition of a continuous lotus pond scene detailed with birds and mandarin ducks such as the pair vases in the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated op. cit., 1989, no. 747. Cf. two further 'lotus pond' examples, the first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 6 November 1997, lot 1050; and the other sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2007, lot 525. It is interesting to note that the lotus pond design vases are larger in size (approximately 55 cm. high) compared to the dragon and 'dragon and phoenix' vases.
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