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               AN EXTREMELY RARE MOLDED WUCAI            There is also a smaller version of this type of vessel with the
               ‘DRAGON’ ZUN-FORM VASE                    upper section more compressed: one measuring 49.2 cm in
               MARK AND PERIOD OF WANLI                  height, the iron-red enamels slightly less vibrant, is illustrated
                                                         in Ryoichi Fujioka and Gakuji Hasebe ed., Sekai tōji zenshū
               the rim with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a   / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Ming Dynasty, Tokyo,
               rectangular cartouche                     1976, pl. 222; a pair of vases (48.5 cm) with a very similar
               Height 25¼ in., 64.2 cm                   style of painting to the present, sold at Christie’s New York,
                                                         22nd March 2007, lot 316; and another is also illustrated in
               PROVENANCE                                Mayuyama, op.cit., 1976, pl. 917.
               French Private Collection.
                                                         ⊖  $ 150,000-250,000
               Richly painted in underglaze blue and bright enamels, this
               vase belongs to a well-known group of Wanli (r. 1573-1620)
               altar vases modeled after archaic bronze wine containers,   明萬曆   五彩穿花龍紋鋪首大方尊
               such as zun or gu. Although vessels of this type can vary
               in proportions, it is extremely rare to find them molded in   《大明萬曆年製》款
               relief as on the present piece, and only one other example is
               known. Previously in the collection of Yokogawa Tamisuke,   來源
               the closely related molded zun is now in the Tokyo National   法國私人收藏
               Museum, Tokyo (accession no. TG-903) (fig. 1) and illustrated
               in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 914.
               Two vases of this form and design, but without the molded
               decoration to the body, are preserved in museums: one,
               formerly in the collection of Russell Tyson, now in the Art
               Institute of Chicago (accession no. 1964.669); the other in
               the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese
               Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 739.







































                Fig. 1  A wucai ‘dragon’ zun-form vase, Mark and period
                of Wanli © Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo
                圖一  五彩龍文方瓶 大明萬曆年製銘 © 東京国立博物館,
                東京

               70      SOTHEBY’S        COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11074                                                                                                                                            71
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