White-glazed bottle-shaped vases are extremely rare and only two examples are published. A nearly identical Yongle vase, but using these decorative motifs in slightly different combination from the Pilkington collection, is illustrated by Adrian M. Joseph, Ming Porcelains, Their Origins and Development, no. 94; another similar example from the Baur Collection, with pomegranate within quatrefoil medallions, is illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, La Porcelaine Ming, p. 76, no. 41.

Excavations at the Imperial kiln sites at Jingdezhen indicates that white wares were popular in the Yongle reign, although there is no record of extant sweet-white glazed bottles vases. The shape of the present lot with its short slender neck and slightly splayed foot is found among underglaze-blue wares from the Yongle stratum; for two examples, see Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, nos. 60 and 61.

(US$120,000-150,000)