LATE MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BLUE AND WHITE CRESCENT-SHAPED FLASK
LATE MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY
The hollow vessel is potted in the shape of a crescent raised on four low ruyi supports and molded on the sides with two curved 'seams' that border the cloud decoration on the lower body and the lotus scroll on the upper body that surround a diaper-filled quatrefoil collar at the base of the tall, waisted neck below the compressed, bulbous mouth decorated with pendent leaf tips.
7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm.) long

Special notice

Please note that this lot is subject to an import tariff. The amount of the import tariff due is a percentage of the final hammer price plus buyer's premium. The buyer should contact Post Sale Services prior to the sale to determine the estimated amount of the import tariff. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address the buyer will not be required to pay the import tariff, but the shipment may be delayed while awaiting approval to export from the local government. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a domestic address, if the buyer collects the property in person, or if the buyer arranges their own shipping (whether domestically or internationally), the buyer will be required to pay the import tariff. For the purpose of calculating sales tax, if applicable, the import tariff will be added to the final hammer price plus buyer's premium and sales tax will be collected as per The Buyer's Premium and Taxes section of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Rufus Chen (陳嘉安) Head of Sale, AVP, Specialist

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

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A similar vessel, found in West Sumatra, and now in the Pukat Museum, Jakarata, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 31. Another is illustrated by C.J.A. Jorge in Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, Amsterdam, 1997, p. 36, no. 10, where the author refers to the shape as that of a leather water bag, and notes that as Islam became dominant in Java, the crescent shape may have appealed to Islamic buyers throughout Indonesia.
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