Lot Essay
Previously sold in London, 6 June 1995, lot 214.
Other Xuande stemcups of this design are in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zang Ci Xuan, pl. 96; in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, no. 165; in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated loc. cit., vol. 6, no. 90; in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, 1996, no. 405; in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, University of Durham, illustrated by Legeza in the Malcolm MacDonald Collection Catalogue, pl. LXII, no. 182; illustrated in Toji Zenshu, no. 11, fig. 28; included in the Kau Chi Society Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1981, Catalogue, no. 68; included in the Hong Kong O. C. S. Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 1975, Catalogue, no. 14; and another from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold in Hong Kong, 25 November 1980, lot 2.
A covered dou of this pattern and with the reign mark written in a line below the rim is in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, included in the Special Exhibition of Xuande Wares, 1980, Catalogue, no. 25.
The dou form is an adaptation from an archaic food container more commonly found as pottery and bronze vessels, and nearly all the known Xuande examples are identical in shape and decoration. The rounded body vessel would also have had a matching domed cover, like that on the Taibei National Palace Museum example, mentioned above.
(US$90,000-115,000)
Other Xuande stemcups of this design are in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zang Ci Xuan, pl. 96; in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, no. 165; in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated loc. cit., vol. 6, no. 90; in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, 1996, no. 405; in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, University of Durham, illustrated by Legeza in the Malcolm MacDonald Collection Catalogue, pl. LXII, no. 182; illustrated in Toji Zenshu, no. 11, fig. 28; included in the Kau Chi Society Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1981, Catalogue, no. 68; included in the Hong Kong O. C. S. Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 1975, Catalogue, no. 14; and another from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold in Hong Kong, 25 November 1980, lot 2.
A covered dou of this pattern and with the reign mark written in a line below the rim is in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, included in the Special Exhibition of Xuande Wares, 1980, Catalogue, no. 25.
The dou form is an adaptation from an archaic food container more commonly found as pottery and bronze vessels, and nearly all the known Xuande examples are identical in shape and decoration. The rounded body vessel would also have had a matching domed cover, like that on the Taibei National Palace Museum example, mentioned above.
(US$90,000-115,000)