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Lot Essay
This rare form in which the upper bulb of the double gourd is spherical and the lower is a cube relates to the traditional representation of Heaven as a circle and Earth as a square. Although they were difficult to fire successfully, square forms became popular in the 16th century. Nevertheless such vases with round upper bulb and square base are rare.
A double gourd vase of the same shape and decoration as the current vase is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Kodansha, 1976, col. Pl. 190. A vase of this shape decorated with figures in landscape on both upper and lower bilbs, is illustrated by Hobson, Reckham and King in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, 1931, p. 131, fig. 200. A smaller vase of the same shape and similar decoration as the current vase was sold in London in March 1973. A vase of the same form as the current vase, but decorated with mythical beasts in landscape on the upper bulb and with landscape scenes on the lower bulb, was sold in London in 1995.
A double gourd vase of the same shape and decoration as the current vase is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Kodansha, 1976, col. Pl. 190. A vase of this shape decorated with figures in landscape on both upper and lower bilbs, is illustrated by Hobson, Reckham and King in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, 1931, p. 131, fig. 200. A smaller vase of the same shape and similar decoration as the current vase was sold in London in March 1973. A vase of the same form as the current vase, but decorated with mythical beasts in landscape on the upper bulb and with landscape scenes on the lower bulb, was sold in London in 1995.