Page 76 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition Chinese Porcelain, Both the Gao’an vases share with the current example petal panels
The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, 1987, illustrated in the Catalogue, around the foot, bold peony scrolls around the middle of the vessel
Part 1, pl. 4. Two meiping vases, excavated at Gao’anxian in 1980 and and cloud-collar on the shoulders. However, the Gao’an vessels have a
now housed in the Gao’an City Museum are illustrated by Zhu Yuping lotus pond motif within the cloud-collar. A similar vase in the Topkapi
in Yuandai qinghua ci, Shanghai, 2000, pp. 132-3, nos. 6-1 and 6-2. Saray, Istanbul shares the same layout but with horses against waves in
the cloud-collar (illustrated by J. Ayers and R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics
in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul - II, Yuan and Ming Dynasty
Porcelains, London, 1986, p. 502, no. 585).

A further meiping with similar decoration to the current vessel is in
the collection of the Ardebil Shrine, now in the Iran Bastan, Tehran,
illustrated by J. A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine,
London, 1981, pl. 25, no. 29.412, but the Ardebil Shrine example has
phoenixes amongst the floral scrolls in the cloud-collar. The birds on
the current vase have been described as phoenix in another publication,
but the form of the tail and the lack of crest on the head identify them
as geese. Geese were a popular decorative device on ceramics of the
Yuan dynasty, providing a symbol of longevity. Another vase which
depicts phoenix among scrolls in the cloud-collar band was formerly
in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark and is illustrated by Sir Harry
Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1964, pl. 17. This latter vase
has a somewhat smaller-scale peony scroll in its middle band than the
other examples mentioned above, as does a meiping in the collection of
the Metropolitan Museum, illustrated in The World’s Great Collections,
Oriental Ceramics, vol. 12, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
fig. 2 Rogers Fund, 1926 New York, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 28 (fig. 2). While
Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, all these variants of cloud-collar, peony band and petal band decorative
New York scheme are very effective, it may be suggested that the proportions and
圖二 紐約大都會博物館藏品 details on the current vase are especially pleasing.

高安縣出土二例梅瓶，兩者現為高安市博物館藏，圖見朱裕平著作《元代青花瓷》頁132-3編號6-1及6-2(上海：2000)。
它們跟本拍品一樣，足脛飾蓮瓣，器腹繪飽滿的纏枝牡丹，雲肩襯如意雲頭，但開光內以蓮池為題。伊斯坦布爾的
托普卡比．薩雷博物館也有一件近似例，其紋飾格局相同，但雲肩內繪駿馬海水紋，圖見艾爾斯( J.Ayers)與康蕊
(R. Krahl)所著《Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul - II, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains》頁502
編號585(倫敦：1986)。

伊朗的阿德比爾神廟也有一件紋飾相若的近似梅瓶，但其雲肩內填鳳穿纏枝花卉紋，此瓶現已入藏德黑蘭的伊朗國家
博物館，圖見J. A. Pope著作《Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine》圖版25編號29.412(倫敦：1981)。另一著作曾將
本拍品的飛鳥稱為鳳凰，但觀其尾翎和頭無冠羽的造型，看來應是大雁。雁紋在元瓷中相當流行，因其隱含
延年益壽之意。克拉克夫人(Mrs Alfred Clark)舊藏中也有一件梅瓶，其雲肩內亦繪鳳穿纏枝花卉紋，圖見葛納爵士
(Sir Harry Garner)1964年著作《Oriental Blue and White》圖版17。較諸本文引述的眾多例子，克拉克夫人梅瓶中段的
s
纏枝牡丹紋相對較小，式樣近似紐約大都會藝術博物館藏梅瓶，後者圖見《The World’ Great Collections, Oriental
Ceramics》卷十二之「紐約大都會藝術博物館」(東京：講談社系列，1982)彩色圖版28(圖二)。以雲肩、纏枝牡丹和
蓮瓣這一紋飾組合而言，其諸多變奏確實各有千秋，但本拍品的比例大小和細節描寫無不略勝一籌，觀之格外
賞心悅目。

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