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Lot Essay
The form of this rare, archaistic zun-shaped vase was one that found considerable favor with the Wanli court, as evidenced by the pair of smaller vases of this form, with aubergine decoration on a yellow ground, which were excavated in 1958 from the Dingling tomb of the Wanli Emperor. See Zhongguo wenwu qinghua da cidian - Taoci juan, Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 1995, p. 404, no. 803.
The most striking examples of the zun form, however, are the larger vases, like the current example, which are decorated in wucai technique using underglaze-blue and overglaze enamels. What makes the current vase especially rare and impressive, is the addition of turquoise enamel to the normal wucai palette of red, green, brownish-black and yellow enamels. Another zun-form vase decorated in this expanded wucai palette with similar motifs is in the Ataka Collection, Osaka, and illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu – 14- Ming, Tokyo, 1976, pp. 104-5, no. 106. See, also, the similar zun-form vase decorated also decorated in this palette sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, One Man's Vision, Important Chinese Art from The Manno Art Museum, 28 October 2022, lot 534.
The most striking examples of the zun form, however, are the larger vases, like the current example, which are decorated in wucai technique using underglaze-blue and overglaze enamels. What makes the current vase especially rare and impressive, is the addition of turquoise enamel to the normal wucai palette of red, green, brownish-black and yellow enamels. Another zun-form vase decorated in this expanded wucai palette with similar motifs is in the Ataka Collection, Osaka, and illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu – 14- Ming, Tokyo, 1976, pp. 104-5, no. 106. See, also, the similar zun-form vase decorated also decorated in this palette sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, One Man's Vision, Important Chinese Art from The Manno Art Museum, 28 October 2022, lot 534.