Page 220 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN
COLLECTION

2362
A CIZHOU FIGURE OF ZHENWU
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

The deity is decorated in dark and russet
brown on a white slip under a clear glaze.
He is seated on a low throne in front of a
screen decorated on the front and back with
a landscape. His right foot is raised above the
‘Dark Warrior’, and his right hand rests on
the hilt of a sword while his left rests on his
knee. He is dressed in armor decorated with
a dragon and is depicted with bare feet, as is
customary for the deity. He is fanked by an
attendant fgure holding a vessel.
10Ω in. (26.7 cm.) high

$8,000-12,000

Zhenwu is the Daoist deity of the North, and his
popularity reached its peak during the height
of the Ming dynasty. Here he is paired with
the ‘Dark Warrior’, a tortoise coiled by a snake,
which is associated with the north and with
winter, and clutches his legendary sword, which
he is said to have borrowed from the immortal,
Lü Dongbin.

Other Cizhou fgures of Zhenwu have been sold
at Christie’s, including one in New York, 18
September 2003, lot 289, and one in London, 6
November 2012, lot 110. However, these fgures
were depicted without the backing screen or
accompanying attendant and ‘Dark Warrior’.

明 磁州窯真武大帝坐像

2361

2361 ANOTHER PROPERTY

TWO GREEN, AMBER, AND CREAM-GLAZED TILES 2363
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) A GUAN-TYPE BOWL

Each depicts a phoenix with outstretched wings and curved necks amidst lotus foliage. LATE MING/EARLY QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH
The larger 17 x 27 in. (43.2 x 68.6 cm.)
(2) CENTURY

$8,000-12,000 The bowl is well potted with deep rounded
sides and is covered in a pale greyish-blue

PROVENANCE: glaze suffused with black and golden crackle
stopping short of the brown foot rim.
The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York. 4º in. (10.3 cm.) diam.

明 素三彩琉璃鳳戲蓮塘圖壁磚兩件

$5,000-7,000

Compare the virtually identical bowl, dated to
the Ming dynasty, sold at Sotheby’s New York,
17th-18th March 2014, lot 263.

明末/清十八世紀 仿官釉盌

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