Page 226 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II

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A VERY RARE BLUE AND WHITE RELIEF-MOLDED VASE, FANGGU
WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)

The vase is of square section and heavily potted. The neck is decorated in rich cobalt blue with
opposing bands of leaf tips, and the bulbous middle section is applied on each side with a lion-
mask handle fanked by molded dragons leaping amidst fower scroll, which is repeated on the
lower section. The base is molded to resemble a stand, with shaped aprons joining ruyi-form
legs above the stepped foot.
12¬ in. (32 cm.) high, wood stand, Japanese wood box

$180,000-250,000

PROVENANCE:

Shinichi Sasagawa Collection, Osaka.
Mayuyama & Co, Ltd., Tokyo, before 1976.

LITERATURE:

Toji Taikei vol. 42, Min no Sometsuke, Ryoichi Fujioka (ed.), Tokyo, 1975, p. 109, no. 71
Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Mayuyama & Co. Ltd., Tokyo, 1976, fg. 954.
Sekai Toji Zenshu, Ming Dynasty, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 99, pl. 102.

The faceted gu shape and molded dragon decoration of this rare vase can also be seen on a few
published wucai vases with Jiajing marks. One such vase is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14,
Ming Dynasty, Tokyo, 1976, p. 211, pl. 222, and a pair was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March
2007, lot 316. Unlike the compressed, or more squat body of the present blue and white vase, the
wucai examples, which are also heavily potted, have taller bodies (19 in.), with the additional height
found primarily in the lower body. The present vase shares with the wucai vases similar molded
decoration of pairs of dragons leaping amidst fowers and leaves on either side of a lion-mask handle
that projects from each side of the middle section, and also on the lower body above a faux stand
with shaped aprons. However, because of the compressed shape of the vase, the dragon decoration is
more dense than on the wucai vases. And, as with the present vase, the wucai examples have a rather
short neck, also decorated with opposing bands of leaf tips below a decorative band incorporating the
nianhao in a panel on the upright rim.

明萬曆 青花模印龍穿花紋鋪首銜環耳方觚式瓶 單行六字楷書款

(another view) The present vase, as illustrated in Mayuyama,
Seventy Years, vol. 1, Mayuyama & Co. Ltd.,
Tokyo, 1976, fg. 954.

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