A LARGE WUCAI VASE

17TH CENTURY

Details

A LARGE WUCAI VASE
17TH CENTURY
Of slight baluster form, finely enamelled to one side with a dignitary, his attendants behind him, meeting an Immortal in a misty mountain landscape, the other with a court lady and her attendants on a fenced terrace, the neck enamelled with chrysanthemums growing from blue rockwork, the interior of the neck with two dragons holding sacred fungus in their claws, an iron-red six-character Kangxi mark within a double square on the base
21¼ in. (54 cm.) high

Lot Essay

It is quite rare to find enamelling inside the rim of a vase in this fashion. It would appear that the Chinese painter was trying to cleverly disguise a very short firing crack at the rim by using it as the tip of the scaly dragon's serpentine tail, just as, a century or so later, Meissen enamellers painted small insects on porcelain plates to disguise firing flaws.

More from The Hodroff Collection Chinese Export Porcelain From The Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff

View All