Lot Essay
Two slip-decorated brown-ground `garlic mouth’ vases with similarly-rendered plants in the British Museum, are illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 34, pls. II:188 and II:189, where they are dated Ming dynasty, c. 1573-1620. The author notes that this combination of toffee-brown ground with contrasting white decoration was first introduced in the Wanli period, and that shards of this type dating to the late Ming era have been excavated at Zhushan in Jingdezhen.