Page 98 - Sotheby's Chinese Art and Porcelain Auction New York September 12, 2018

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PROPERTY FROM A JAPANESE COLLECTION Wucai wares of the Wanli period belong to one of the most
sumptuous group of wares of the Ming dynasty, and are
A LARGE BOLDLY ENAMELED WUCAI ZUN-
characterized by vibrant designs in vivid colors. They
SHAPED VASE
represent the strong revival of Buddhism and unprecedented
WANLI MARK AND PERIOD imperial patronage of Buddhist causes under the Wanli
emperor and the Empress Dowager Cisheng. Using funds
rising from a tall spreading foot to a bulbous middle section,
from the imperial treasury, Wanli erected or restored many
surmounted by a ß aring neck with a horizontal rib and
temple buildings, leading to an increased production of ritual
a galleried rim, painted in vibrant overglaze red, yellow,
and ceremonial pieces, altar vases for Buddhist worship
ocher, green and black enamels and underglaze blue with
within the imperial palaces and for donations to worthy
a band of prunus reserved on a green wave band, the lower
Buddhist clerics.
section of the body with blossoming camellia and prunus
growing amidst pierced rockwork, two baskets and two Alongside his patronage of Buddhism, the Wanli emperor
jardinières Þ lled with fruit and ß owers encircling the bulbous was also a devout follower of Daoism. As a result, Buddhist
middle, framed above by a composite ß oral scroll and a furnishings frequently combined both Buddhist and Daoist
band of upright lappets at the neck, the rim with a classic imagery. This vase is an example of such blending; while the
scroll border, the six-character mark in a horizontal line in vase is clearly intended for Buddhist worship, the basket
underglaze blue within a rectangular cartouche, wood stand, of ß owers is the attribute of Lan Caihe, one of the Eight
wood box (4) Immortals who grants immortality.
Height 27 in., 68.6 cm The present vase, which derives its form from bronze
originals, is magniÞ cent in size and brilliantly painted, and
$ 200,000-300,000
only a small number of closely related examples are known;
㖶叔㙮ġġġḼ⼑剙⋱䲳⣏剙如 one is illustrated in Anthony du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial
History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 170, pl. 1,
˪⣏㖶叔㙮⸜墥˫㫦 sold at Christie’s London, 11th December 1978, lot 111; and
a smaller version, in the Matsuoka Art Museum, Tokyo, is
illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. I, Tokyo, 1976,
pl. 916.
Compare a vase of related form and large size, but the
central body painted with birds amongst rocks and ß owers
and the neck with dragons, in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
included in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 13, Shanghai, 2000,
pl. 129; and another, in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, published in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl. 171.

96 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART