R1041
Description
A large Chinese porcelain fahua vase of guan form, carved in relief with Shoulao seated holding a ruyi sceptre beside an attendant fanning the flames of a censer, all between a deer and crane, in a continuous landscape scene with the Eight Immortals each holding their various attributes between pine trees, rockwork and a large cloud bank, beneath a ruyi-head band at the shoulder enclosing the bajixian, the eight precious objects, all between lappet borders, the neck with lingzhi cloud sprays, the entire exterior heightened in turquoise, yellow and pale aubergine on a deep, rich aubergine-blue ground, the interior covered in a green glaze, the unglazed base with green splashes, the biscuit revealing the body.
12 ¾ inches, 32.4 cm high.
Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century.
Condition
Piece out of neck re-stuck and body crack.
Provenance & Additional Information
- Sold by Christie’s London in their auction of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Including Export Art, 7th November 2006, lot 183.
- Published by Michael S. Smith in Houses of New York, 2008, pp. 135-6.
- A similar example, bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917, is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, collection number 17.120.149; another is illustrated in Anthony Du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, p.174, fig.1.
- A similar vase is illustrated in Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, no. 896, pl. LXXII, case XXVI.
Similar Items
27. M4754
£48,000Large Chinese ceramic white and brown glazed inscribed pillow, zhen, of octagonal section, the gently concave top incised with a nineteen-character poetic verse flanked by incised foliage, the lip gently overhanging the flattened sides, covered in a rich cream glaze, the base predominantly unglazed with natural drip marks, the side pierced with an air hole from the firing.
17 3/8 inches, 44.1 cm long; 7 ¾ inches, 19.7 cm deep.
Song dynasty, Cizhou kilns, 11th – 12th century.
Japanese wood box.
22. M4468
£9,500Chinese porcelain blue and white sweetmeat dish, mukozuke, in the form of a recumbent elephant on three circular feet with its head turned back, the underside moulded with the ears, eyes and tail painted to highlight the features.
7 1/8 inches, 18.1 cm long.
Tianqi, 1621-1627.
M3102
£9,500Large Swatow deep circular dish painted in turquoise, black and iron-red enamels with a large central scene of the ‘split pagoda’, with mountains in the distance, figures crossing a bridge and boats, all above three pagodas on rockwork, surrounded by four ruyi-head flaming medallions of fisherman, two with figures crossing a bridge, one with a fishing boat with one of the fisherman holding a net and the other with a boat in a river scene, between four four-character iron-red seals within a double square, the underside plain, the base and foot rim with sand grit.
39.5cm diameter.
Pinghe County, Zhangzhou prefecture, Fujian province.
Ming dynasty, circa 1600.
