Page 382 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

1141
A PAIR OF FINELY DECORATED BLUE AND
WHITE VASES
REPUBLIC PERIOD
Each vase is decorated on one side with a pair of chicks
perched on a gnarled branch with delicately trailing
vines, surrounded by the silhouette of leaves, the base
with a four-character seal mark in underglaze blue
reading chu xiu gong zhi (‘The Palace of Gathering
Excellence’).
8æ in. (20.3 cm.) high
(2)
$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Pei Hwa Foo, Chicago, 1999.
In style, decoration and quality, this pair of vases
can be attributed to the celebrated Republic period
porcelain artist, Wang Bu (1898-1968). Born in
Fengcheng County, Jiangxi Province, Wang Bu, also
known by his hao, or sobriquet, Zhuxi, studied under
the famed porcelain artist Wu Aisheng (1886-1926),
and was much infuenced by the expressionist, xieyi,
style of his older contemporary Wang Qi (1884-1937).
A blue and white vase (meiping) of smaller size (17
cm. high), with similar decoration of a pair of birds
resting in gnarled tree branches, was sold at Bonhams
San Francisco, 23 June 2015, lot 7258. This vase
was inscribed with a seal to one side reading Wang
Bu and a seal on the base reading yuanwen wuguo
zhizhai (Studio of Recognizing My Mistakes). Another
blue and white meiping, but of larger size (24.8 cm.),
decorated with very similarly rendered birds as those
on the current pair of vases, also shown perched
in gnarled branches with delicately trailing vines,
was sold at Christie’s London, 10 May 2011, lot 280.
Similar depictions of birds in gnarled branches can be
seen on a pair of blue and white cong-form vases from
the Rende Zhai Collection, sold at Christie’s New York,
16 September 2011, lot 1643, which had additional
scenes of sages in landscapes. See, also, the pair of
blue and white seal-paste boxes and covers from the
collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, attributed to Wang
Bu and painted with scenes of birds, sold at Sotheby’s
New York, 12 September 2018, lot 119.
民國 青花花鳥紋瓶一對

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