Page 80 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17
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PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN                               Covered overall in a vibrant cobalt, the aesthetic  Compare a similar meiping, attributed to the
                                                      origins of this piece can be traced to the early    15th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
A BLUE-GLAZED VASE                                    Ming dynasty when potters rst attempted to          New York, published in Suzanne G. Valenstein,
MING DYNASTY, 15TH CENTURY                            craft meiping with monochrome blue glazes.          A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York,
                                                      Vessels of this type were expensive to produce      1989, pl. 146; another, in Japan, is illustrated
of meiping form, the sturdily potted body gently      as they required copious amounts of cobalt,         in Sekai Toji Zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World,
broadening to a full, rounded shoulder and            a rare and costly commodity that needed to          vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 155.; and a third, from
sweeping to a slightly tapered neck with a lipped     be imported from Central Asia. Each vase was        the Gulbenkian Museum, Durham, which sold at
rim, covered overall in a rich lapis lazuli-tone      dipped, possibly more than once, into a glaze mix   Christie’s New York, 21st September 2000, lot
glaze thinning slightly at the neck and rim and       containing cobalt oxide in order to achieve the     296.
falling irregularly at the foot, the interior glazed  distinctive dark blue tone seen on the present
white, the base unglazed                              piece.                                              $ 30,000-50,000
Height 14¼ in., 36.3 cm

78 SOTHEBY’S
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