Page 172 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

84
A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE ‘DOUBLE-GOURD’ Compare a related vase painted with qilin medallions on
VASE the lower bulb, exhibited in Inaugural Exhibition: Selected
MING DYNASTY, JIAJING PERIOD Masterpieces of the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Matsuoka
Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1975, cat. no. 84. Another, with more
the lower bulb of square section, each side boldly painted stylized shou roundels on a similar cloud scroll ground, is
in inky cobalt blue with a fabulous beast including a qilin, an illustrated in Hara Hiromu, Oriental Ceramics: The World’s
elephant, a lion, and a horse, sweeping into a constricted Great Collections. Museum Pusat, Jakarta, vol. 3, 1976, pl.
waist and surmounted by a round upper bulb, painted with 227. See also one with a scene of Shoulao on the lower bulb,
crane and shou medallions on a cloud scroll ground, the included in Ming Blue and White: Jiajing-Chongzhen Including
elongated cylindrical neck with a border of ruyi lappets and Dated Examples, S. Marchant & Son, London, 2004, cat. no. 8.
further shou roundels For examples sold at auction, refer to one sold in our
Height 25 in., 63.5 cm London rooms, 5th November 2008, lot 67, and two sold in
these rooms: the first, 21st-22nd September 2005, and the
PROVENANCE
second, 11th September 2019, lot 885.
Sotheby’s New York, 15th September 1999, lot 81.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 17th November 2000. $ 50,000-70,000
Replete with symbols of longevity—the double-gourd form,
the shou characters, cranes, lingzhi-shaped clouds, and 明嘉靖 青花瑞獸壽字紋大葫蘆瓶
auspicious animals—this robustly potted and decorated vase
reflects the Jiajing Emperor’s ardent devotion to Daoism and 來源：
his desire to attain immortality. 紐約蘇富比1999年9月15日，編號81
藍理捷，紐約，2000年11月17日

83
A YELLOW-GROUND UNDERGLAZE-BLUE Emperor’s devotion to the religion. A vase of this type is
‘DOUBLE-GOURD’ VASE preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.
MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAJING no. 91.1.379). Another sold twice in our London rooms, on 17th
December 1980, lot 634, and again on 5th December 1995, lot
the globular lower body and pear-shaped upper bulb boldly 406. For a variation of this vase with iron-red blossoms, see
painted in deep cobalt blue with meandering leafy lotus a pair in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-
scroll, the waisted midsection with florets and a row of ruyi Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British
heads, all against a rich yellow-enameled ground, the base Museum, London, 2001, pls 9:88 and 9:89.
white and with a six-character mark within a double circle in
underglaze blue $ 20,000-30,000
Height 7½ in., 19.1 cm
明嘉靖 黃地青花纏枝蓮紋葫蘆瓶
PROVENANCE
Marchant, London, 31st March 1999. 《大明嘉靖年製》款
來源：
EXHIBITED
馬錢特，倫敦，1999年3月31日
Two Hundred Years of Chinese Porcelain 1522-1722, S.
Marchant & Son, London, 1998, cat. no. 1. 展覽：
Carried by Daoist immortals, double-gourds were believed 《Two Hundred Years of Chinese Porcelain 1522-1722》
to contain elixirs of immortality. As such, vases in this form ，馬錢特，倫敦，1998年，編號1
are closely associated with Daoism and reflect the Jiajing

168 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748 IMPORTANT CHINESE ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF BRUCE DAYTON AND RUTH STRICKER DAYTON 169