Page 72 - Sotheby's NYC September 21 2022 Important Chinese Art

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PROPERTY FROM A JAPANESE PRIVATE COLLECTION David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 2006, p. 32, no.
A RARE WUCAI ‘DRAGON’ RECTANGULAR 747. Another one in the Fogg Museum, Cambridge, from the
INKSTONE collections of J. Love and Samuel C. Davis, exhibited in The
Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit,
MARK AND PERIOD OF WANLI 1952, cat. no. 177, is illustrated in R. L. Hobson, The Wares
the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1923, pl. 37, fig. 2. A third
a double rectangle, Japanese wood box (3) example in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (accession no.
Length 8½ in., 21.6 cm EA1980.403), is illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming
Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 199. A further example in the
Lavishly decorated with openwork designs of dragons Yamato Bunkakan Museum, Nara, is illustrated in Sekai tōji
chasing the ‘Flaming Pearl’, over waves, and the base painted zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Ming, Tokyo, 1976,
with two five-clawed dragons encircling the reign mark, this pl. 206; the fifth, illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol.
bright and colorful inkstone is very rare and there are only a 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 911, was sold in our London rooms, 11th
handful of comparable examples. Wucai wares of the Wanli June 1996, lot 35.
period (1573-1620) represent one of the most exuberant
types of porcelain of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and are A less elaborate Wanli mark and period wucai inkstone
characterized by their vivid colors and vibrant designs. It lacking the openwork and painted with stylized lappets,
was also during the long reign of Wanli Emperor that the foliate and lingzhi motifs on the borders belongs to the
imperial kilns designed porcelains specifically for the writing Huaihaitang Collection, exhibited in Enlightening Elegance.
desk, including brush rests, brush boxes, brush trays, and Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming. The Huaihaitang
inkstones. Collection, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, The
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2012, cat. no. 93.
Only five other examples of similar design appear to be
recorded. One from the Sir Percival David Foundation of ⊖ $ 80,000-120,000
Chinese Art in the British Museum, London (accession no.
PDF.747), was included in the International Exhibition of
Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 明萬曆 五彩海水龍紋硯
1966, and illustrated in Rebecca Feng, Illustrated Catalogue
of Ming and Ming Style Polychrome Wares in the Percival 《大明萬曆年製》款

68 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11074 69