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Lot Essay
This vase appears to be the finest of a small group of unusual faceted meiping with molded decorative panels left in the biscuit.
The most similar to the present example appears to be the vase in the collection of the Zwinger, Dresden, included in the museum's exhibition, Farbige Glasuren auf Porzellan, 1990, Catalogue, no. 11. Another very similar example, with reduced lip, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art was included in the exhibition, Realm of the Immortals, Daoism in the Arts of China, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 10 February - 10 April 1988, pp. 10-11, fig. IX, where S. Little discusses the background of the Eight Immortals and illustrates woodblock prints from Sancai tuhui, 1607, showing the immortals with their attributes. He also notes that although the Eight Immortals were first worshipped during the Song dynasty, they figured 'prominently in the visual arts of the Yuan and later dynasties'. This vase was also included in the exhibition, Ice and Green Clouds, Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 28 January - 22 March, 1987, Catalogue, p. 202, no. 82, where the authors Y. Mino and K. Tsiang, describe the technique of coating the central panels with 'wax or grease before glazing to prevent the glaze from adhering'.
A slightly more attenuated version of this type in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 187, no. 364, and a similar vase with a crackled glaze and a reduced foot in the British Museum is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, vol. 5, col. pl. 75.
Another vase with differently shaped panels on the shoulder and the addition of iron-brown spots on the vertical edges between the biscuit panels, is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1981, vol. 13, p. 45, pl. 32.
A version of this vase in the Percival David Foundation, is decorated with biscuit panels of four of the Eight Immortals alternating with four panels of flowers, but with similar panels of flower sprigs under the glaze above and below. See the Catalogue for the exhibition, Imperial Taste, Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 6 July - 17 September 1989, pp. 48-49, no. 23. In the catalogue entry R. Scott notes that traces of gilding remain on the unglazed panels of this vase, as well as on the vase illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, op. cit.
The most similar to the present example appears to be the vase in the collection of the Zwinger, Dresden, included in the museum's exhibition, Farbige Glasuren auf Porzellan, 1990, Catalogue, no. 11. Another very similar example, with reduced lip, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art was included in the exhibition, Realm of the Immortals, Daoism in the Arts of China, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 10 February - 10 April 1988, pp. 10-11, fig. IX, where S. Little discusses the background of the Eight Immortals and illustrates woodblock prints from Sancai tuhui, 1607, showing the immortals with their attributes. He also notes that although the Eight Immortals were first worshipped during the Song dynasty, they figured 'prominently in the visual arts of the Yuan and later dynasties'. This vase was also included in the exhibition, Ice and Green Clouds, Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 28 January - 22 March, 1987, Catalogue, p. 202, no. 82, where the authors Y. Mino and K. Tsiang, describe the technique of coating the central panels with 'wax or grease before glazing to prevent the glaze from adhering'.
A slightly more attenuated version of this type in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 187, no. 364, and a similar vase with a crackled glaze and a reduced foot in the British Museum is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, vol. 5, col. pl. 75.
Another vase with differently shaped panels on the shoulder and the addition of iron-brown spots on the vertical edges between the biscuit panels, is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1981, vol. 13, p. 45, pl. 32.
A version of this vase in the Percival David Foundation, is decorated with biscuit panels of four of the Eight Immortals alternating with four panels of flowers, but with similar panels of flower sprigs under the glaze above and below. See the Catalogue for the exhibition, Imperial Taste, Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 6 July - 17 September 1989, pp. 48-49, no. 23. In the catalogue entry R. Scott notes that traces of gilding remain on the unglazed panels of this vase, as well as on the vase illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, op. cit.