.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Gu-form vases of this size were used as altar vases at the imperial court during the Wanli period. While similar blue and white examples exist, few surpass the present example in the richness of its cobalt-blue, and the intricacy of its details.
Compare a larger Wanli blue and white gu-form vase painted with mythical beasts in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with fewer decorative bands, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 184, no. 173 (fig. 1); and a wucai gu-form vase in the same institution sharing a nearly identical decoration, size and form to the present vase, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 37, no. 34 (fig. 2).
Compare a larger Wanli blue and white gu-form vase painted with mythical beasts in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with fewer decorative bands, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 184, no. 173 (fig. 1); and a wucai gu-form vase in the same institution sharing a nearly identical decoration, size and form to the present vase, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 37, no. 34 (fig. 2).