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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

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