15. M5501
£28,500
Description
Chinese Blanc de Chine incense burner with rounded side and gently flared flattened rim, with two high-relief Buddhist lion mask handles with an elaborate mane of curls, all on a slightly splayed foot and lipped footrim, covered overall in an even pale cream glaze, the footrim unglazed, the well of the interior with three spur marks from the firing.
The underside with a six-character mark of Chenghua within a double rectangle.
6 1⁄4 inches, 15.9 cm handle to handle; 5 1/16 inches, 12.9 cm diameter; 2 3⁄4 inches, 7 cm high.
Dehua, Fujian Province.
Late Ming, circa 1620-1640.
Wood stand and Edward T. Chow fitted box.
Provenance & Additional Information
- From the collection of Edward T. Chow.
Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) was born in Yangzhou and at the age of thirteen was sent to Shanghai to study with the art dealer Zhu Heting, he was also mentored by Jacob Melchior, a Danish collector working in the Customs Service. He met many of the great Western collectors and moved to Hong Kong in 1947 where he built his reputation as a dealer and significant collector of Chinese ceramics and works of art. In 1967 he moved to Geneva. Following his passing in 1980, his collection was auction in London and Hong Kong. - Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of The Edward T. Chow Collection Part Three: Ming and Qing Porcelain and Works of Art, 19th May 1981, lot 486.
- From the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Thompson, included by The University of Hull Art Collection in their exhibition of Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period (circa 1620-1680 A.D.), and illustrated by James J. Lally in colour in the exhibition catalogue, no. 45.
- Formerly in the collection of Mr. H. Soudavar.
- Two similar censers with Chenghua marks are illustrated, one from the Garner Collection by Soame Jenyns in Ming Pottery and Porcelain, pl. 116B, and one from the Percival David Collection by Hobson and Heatherington in Art of Chinese Potter, pl. CVII, fig. 2; another with an identical Chenghua mark is illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, no. 123, pp. 288/9.
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