Page 64 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong Dec 3 2021

AN IMPORTANT AND RARE BLUE AND

WHITE YUHUCHUNPING

ROSEMARY SCOTT, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT, ASIAN ART

The elegant form of this Yongle pear-shaped vase is one that came Museum vases are not strictly plantain leaves, but are shorter and
to prominence in the Yuan dynasty, underwent some proportional much simplified by comparison. On these two vases the band above
changes in the first Ming dynasty reign of the Hongwu emperor, the plantain is filled by a lotus scroll, rather than the knobbed classic
and then in the Yongle reign developed its classic shape. In addition scroll on the current vase and its companion in the National Palace
to subtle alterations in form, the Yongle yuhuchunping also benefited Museum. The third distinctive feature of the two latter vases is that
from a greater range of decorative motifs, a reduction in the number they have well-proportioned single flower sprays in the extended
of decorative bands, and a greater flexibility as to the width of those band on their shoulders, in contrast to the various scrolls seen on the
bands and their relationship to each other. majority of other Yongle vases of this form. Although single flower
sprays and fruiting sprays were among the most attractive of the
While relatively few Yongle pear-shaped vases have survived - decorative devices of Yongle blue and white porcelain, they are rare
apparently fewer than pear-shaped ewers - an identical vase to the on pear-shaped vases. However both single flower sprays and fruiting
current example is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, sprays can be seen on a Yongle pear-shaped vase in the Shanghai
Taipei (illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum, Blue- Museum (illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red,
and-white Ware of the Ming Dynasty - Book I, Hong Kong, 1963, pp. Hong Kong, 1987, p. 63, no. 49). Interestingly the Shanghai vase shares
44-5, pls. 2 and 2a-b) (fig. 1). Three features on these two vases are with the current vase, and the similar example in the National Palace
particularly distinctive. Firstly, around the base of the body is a vividly Museum, a knobbed classic scroll under the rim.
painted band of turbulent waves, rather than the lotus petal band seen
on most other examples. Secondly, they have a band of plantain leaves A second Yongle pear-shaped vase in the National Palace Museum
around the middle of the neck, above which is a band of knobbed (illustrated by Liu Liang-yu in A Survey of Chinese Ceramics 4 Ming
classic scrolls. This is unusual, since plantain leaves are generally Official Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 55, left-hand image) is identical to a
placed just below the rim, as on the pear-shaped vase decorated in its further vase from the Ardebil Shrine in Iran (illustrated by John Pope
major band with plants and rocks, from the collection of the Palace in Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, op. cit., pl. 53, no. 29.448).
Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of These two vases have a petal band around the base of the body, a
the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), large-scale mixed floral scroll as the main band, a large, heavily drawn,
Hong Kong, 2000, p. 35, no. 33), on which the position of the plantain knobbed scroll on the shoulder, above which is a band of squared
leaves and the knobbed classic scroll are reversed, with the latter spirals, topped by an inverted cloud collar band.
appearing below the plantain leaves. Two blue and white pear-shaped vases excavated from the imperial
Nevertheless, two more Yongle pear-shaped vases have the feature kilns at Jingdezhen have been published by the Chang Foundation
of a band of plantain leaves around the middle of the neck, in their in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei,
case below a band of lingzhi fungus. These vases from the collection 1996, pp. 182-5, nos. 60 and 61. Like the current vase, and the similar
of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Catalogue of A vase in the National Palace Museum, the two excavated vases have
Special Exhibition of Early Ming Period Porcelain, Taipei, 1982, p. 47, no. floral scrolls as their major decorative band. One has a band of
14) and the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated scrolling hibiscus (no. 61) while the other has a band of scrolling lotus
by R. Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four Dynasties (no. 60). The scrolling lotuses on the excavated vase are smaller than
of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 38, no. 25), have daylilies and those on the current vase, but the flower heads have been similarly
butterflies in their major decorative band, above which is a band of painted. Interestingly, the vase with hibiscus has a much-reduced
small ruyi, above which is a peony scroll. plantain band in the middle of the neck, below a narrow floral scroll.
It may be argued that the decorative scheme of the current vase, and
Interestingly, two further Yongle yuhuchunping have leaf or elongated the one in the National Palace Museum, is the most elegant of the
petal bands in the middle of the neck. These are a vase in the schemes seen on Yongle yuhuchunping. The richly painted blossoms of
collection of the Ardebil Shrine in Iran (illustrated by John Pope the lotus scrolls are complemented by the delicate and widely-spaced
in Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, London, reprinted 1981 leafy stems, while the single floral sprays on the shoulder allow a
edition, pl. 53, no. 29.447), and a vase from the Oppenheimer perfect amount of the fine white body to be seen. This elegant scheme
collection, now in the British Museum, London (illustrated by J. is perfectly matched by the brilliance of the cobalt blue used on this
Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, vase, which is of the highest quality, and the painting of all the bands,
p. 107, no. 3:17). The leaf/petal bands on the Ardebil and British which is accomplished with consummate skill.

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