Page 90 - Ming Porcelain Auction March 14, 2017 Sotheby's, NYC

88 SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK 14 MARCH 2017 MING: THE INTERVENTION OF IMPERIAL TASTE

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION

A LARGE AND IMPORTANT WUCAI
‘HUNDRED DEER’ VASE
WANLI MARK AND PERIOD

sturdily potted, of ovoid form rising to a gently waisted neck
with a lipped rim, painted in underglaze-blue, green, yellow,
aubergine, brown and two shades of iron-red enamel with
a continuous scene depicting a profusion of deer in widely
varied poses, some resting or grazing, others prancing in
playful contest, several partially hidden by the foliage and
twisted trunks of pine and wutong trees, all interspersed
with spiraling underglaze-blue and green enamel cloud
scrolls and with bamboo, pine and fruiting branches, all
above a band of stylized lappets at the foot and below a ruyi
border at the shoulder and a band of alternating peony and
chrysanthemum orets at the neck, all divided by underglaze
blue line borders, the unglazed base centered with a recessed
circle with the six-character mark inscribed in underglaze
blue within a double circle beneath a clear glaze

Height 13½ in., 34.4 cm

PROVENANCE
An English Private Collection.
Bonhams London, 11th July 2005, lot 157.

EXHIBITED
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City,
Missouri, 2013-2015 (on loan).

2005 7 11 157

2013 2015
$ 800,000-1,200,000