Page 136 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN

Property from the Alita Davis Weaver Reed Collection
941
AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE IRON-RED- This rare stem cup is finely decorated on the exterior with nine
DECORATED BLUE AND WHITE STEM CUP mythical sea creatures (haishou), including a winged dragon, a turtle,
WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A a lion, a qilin and a celestial horse. The design is based on earlier
DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1620) Xuande prototypes on which the sea creatures are reserved in white
against a wave ground. For an example of this earlier type, formerly in
3w in. (9.8 cm.) diam.
the Brankstone Collection, see J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the
$70,000-90,000 British Museum, London, 2001, p. 128, no. 4:13, where the author notes
that the nine mythical creatures can be found in Shan Hai Jing (Classic
PROVENANCE:
Samuel Craft Davis (1871-1940) Collection, St. Louis, Missouri. of the Seas and Mountains), "a book completed in the Han dynasty by
William Bigler (1908-1979) and Alita Davis (1905-1988) Weaver Collection, Liu Xiang and his son, revised and illustrated by Guo Pu in the Eastern
Greenwich, Connecticut. Jin dynasty". The theme regained popularity during the 15th century.
Nathaniel Pryor (1933-2018) and Alita Davis Weaver (1941-2023) Reed
Collection, Jupiter Island, Florida, and thence by descent within the family. A Wanli mark-and-period stem cup decorated with the haishou in
iron-red, but set against a ground of underglaze-blue waves which is
repeated on the tall splayed foot, also with the mark written on the
阿⒤塔g戴維斯g薇荷g理德珍藏
interior, from the Nathan L. Halpern Collection, was sold at Christie’s
明萬曆 礬紅青花海獸紋高足盃 雙१Ս字楷書款 New York, 21 September 2004, lot 255. The Helpern stem cup had
Ϝ源 previously been in the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner and
Samuel Craft Davis（1871 1940）珍藏，聖㊌易斯，密蘇里州 exhibited in the seminal 1954 Venice exhibition, Chinese Art, no. 724, as
William Bigler （1908 1979） 及Alita Davis 1905 1988） Weaver 伉儷珍 well as in the London O. C. S exhibition, The Arts of the Ming Dynasty,
藏，格林威治，康乃ṼԳ州 1956, pl. 45, no. 191. See, also, the reverse-decorated blue-and-white
Nathaniel Pryor （1933 2018） 及Alita Davis Weaver （1941 2023） Reed 伉 Wanli stem cup of this design in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
儷珍藏，朱庇ṁ島，ζ羅里達州， 後於家族ҷ承 illustrated in Ming Ci Ming Pin Tu Lu, Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli, The
Catalogue of Famous Ming Porcelain from Japan and Taiwan, 1978,
no. 82, and again by Liu Liang-yu in Ming Official Wares, Taipei, 1991,
p. 281, and another reverse-decorated example sold at Christie’s New
York, Marchant: Eight Treasures for the Wanli Emperor, 21 September
2023, lot 881. These reverse-decorated stem cups are decorated in the
interior with a nine-character mantra in lanca characters.

(mark)

(another view) A Wanli mark-and-period blue and white reverse decorated stem cup sold at Christie’s
New York, Marchant: Eight Treasures for the Wanli Emperor, 21 September 2023, lot 881.
明萬曆青花海獸紋高足盃，馬錢ṁ 萬曆瓷器Ջ珍，紐☼ωૈ得 年 月 日，
拍品編號
134