Lot Essay
The central design on each side most likely derives from a rather similar early Ming design, such as that seen on the interior of a Yongle blue and white basin in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, 1996, p. 219, no. 398. The central device is a double vajra from which radiates eight barbed petals decorated with the bajiaxiang, all encircled by a keyfret border. The shape, also, derives from a Yongle blue and white flask, which in itself is based on a Near Eastern metal prototype. See the large blue and white flask illustrated by Geng Baocheng, Ming Qing Ciqi Jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 32, fig. 54.
Similar flasks are in notable public collections including The National Palace Museum, Taiwan; the Ohlmer Collection, Roemer Museum, Hildesheim, Germany; the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; and the Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu province.
Similar flasks are in notable public collections including The National Palace Museum, Taiwan; the Ohlmer Collection, Roemer Museum, Hildesheim, Germany; the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; and the Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu province.