Page 118 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art London May 2018

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BLUE AND WHITE CERAMICS FROM AN ITALIAN COLLECTION
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘LOTUS’ MEIPING
MING DYNASTY, YONGLE PERIOD

of Þ nely potted baluster form rising to a short waisted neck
with an everted lip, the body well painted in classic contrasting
tones of dark cobalt-blue with a scrolling meander of leafy
stems, millet, lotus blooms and buds, between double line
borders, the foot encircled with a band of seven lotus sprays,
the shoulder with a scrolling leafy meander, all within double
line borders
25 cm, 9⅞ in.
Blue and white porcelains of the Yongle period (r. 1403-24)
rank among the Þ nest in the history of Chinese ceramics and
their designs provided inspiration throughout the Ming and
Qing dynasties. The present meiping, with its harmonious
combination of foliate scrolls with lotus blooms gracefully
draped over an elegant form, exempliÞ es the style and taste of
early Ming imperial porcelain.
Closely related meiping can be found in important museum
collections worldwide; see one from the Qing Court Collection
and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain
with Underglazed Red (I), Hong Kong, 2008, pl. 32; one with
a cover in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in
the Museum’s exhibition Shi yu xin: Mingdai Yongle huangdi
de ciqi/ Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous. Porcelains from the
Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, 2017, cat. no.
52; another in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, exhibited in
Seika jiki ten [Exhibition of blue and white porcelain from the
Shanghai Museum], Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, 1988, cat. no. 10;
and a fourth vase in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.,
illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections,
vol. 9, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 92. Further vases include one sold in
st
these rooms, 1 April 1974, lot 192 and twice in our Hong Kong
th
th
rooms, 29 November 1977, lot 23 and 18 November 1986, lot
42, from the T. Y. Chao collection; and another also sold in our
th
Hong Kong rooms, 10 April 2006, lot 1658.
£ 40,000-60,000
HK$ 442,000-665,000 US$ 56,500-84,500
׼͑ᆀ ڡڀᚂ،ᇳ७ૠଧ

116 SOTHEBY’S