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Lot Essay
This elegant meiping is a classic example of fine Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain. The form is well-proportioned and strongly potted. It is decorated in the rich cobalt blue that had to be imported at great expense in the Yuan period. The banded design makes good use of the extensive canvas provided by the vase's form, the three major decorative bands are in pleasing contrast to one another. They include three of the most successful motifs of the 14th century: the large-scale cloud collar, the bold peony scroll, and the petal panels.
A vase without a cover, but with the same major motifs as the current meiping, including floral scrolls in the cloud collar devices and with simple lines between the peony scroll and the cloud collar band, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 11, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1980, col. pl. 74. Another meiping with very similar decoration and a cover was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 December 1985, lot 191, and was included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, 1987, illustrated in the Catalogue, Part 1, pl. 4.
Two meiping vases with similar covers to the current lot, excavated at Gao'anxian in 1980, are in the collection of the Gao'an City Museum, illustrated by Zhu Yuanping (ed.), Yuandai qinghua ci, Wenhui chubanshe, Shanghai, 2000, pp. 132-3, nos. 6-1 and 6-2. Both the Gao'an vases share with the current example petal panels around the foot, bold peony scroll around the middle of the vessel and cloud collar on the shoulders. The difference is that the current vase has a dense floral scroll within the cloud collar, while the Gao'an vessels have a lotus pond motif. A similar vase decorated with ducks on a lotus pond within the cloud collar is illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Shanghai Museum, 1987, p. 37, no. 21. A related example in the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, has a similar layout but with horses against waves in the cloud collar, illustrated by J. Ayers and R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul - II, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, London, 1986, p. 502, no. 585.
A meiping with similar decoration to the current example is in the collection of the Ardebil Shrine, now in the Iran Bastan, Tehran, illustrated by J. A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, London, 1981, pl. 25, no. 29.412. The Ardebil Shrine example shares all the major decoration of the current vase, but includes phoenixes amongst the floral scrolls in the cloud collar, and it has no lid. A further vase of this type, which like the Ardebil example, lacks its lid and includes phoenixes among the scrolls in the cloud collar devices was formerly in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, Faber and Faber, London, 1964, pl. 17. This latter vase has a somewhat smaller-scale peony scroll in its middle band than the other examples mentioned above. A meiping with the same proportions in its motifs as the Clark vase is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, illustrated in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 12, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 28. Another two vases with the phoenix in the cloud collar were sold at auction, the first from the collection of the late S. H. Pao, sold at Sotheby's London, 15 April 1980, lot 237; and the second, sold in these Rooms, 31 October 1994, lot 542A.
A vase without a cover, but with the same major motifs as the current meiping, including floral scrolls in the cloud collar devices and with simple lines between the peony scroll and the cloud collar band, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 11, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1980, col. pl. 74. Another meiping with very similar decoration and a cover was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 December 1985, lot 191, and was included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, 1987, illustrated in the Catalogue, Part 1, pl. 4.
Two meiping vases with similar covers to the current lot, excavated at Gao'anxian in 1980, are in the collection of the Gao'an City Museum, illustrated by Zhu Yuanping (ed.), Yuandai qinghua ci, Wenhui chubanshe, Shanghai, 2000, pp. 132-3, nos. 6-1 and 6-2. Both the Gao'an vases share with the current example petal panels around the foot, bold peony scroll around the middle of the vessel and cloud collar on the shoulders. The difference is that the current vase has a dense floral scroll within the cloud collar, while the Gao'an vessels have a lotus pond motif. A similar vase decorated with ducks on a lotus pond within the cloud collar is illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Shanghai Museum, 1987, p. 37, no. 21. A related example in the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, has a similar layout but with horses against waves in the cloud collar, illustrated by J. Ayers and R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul - II, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, London, 1986, p. 502, no. 585.
A meiping with similar decoration to the current example is in the collection of the Ardebil Shrine, now in the Iran Bastan, Tehran, illustrated by J. A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, London, 1981, pl. 25, no. 29.412. The Ardebil Shrine example shares all the major decoration of the current vase, but includes phoenixes amongst the floral scrolls in the cloud collar, and it has no lid. A further vase of this type, which like the Ardebil example, lacks its lid and includes phoenixes among the scrolls in the cloud collar devices was formerly in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, Faber and Faber, London, 1964, pl. 17. This latter vase has a somewhat smaller-scale peony scroll in its middle band than the other examples mentioned above. A meiping with the same proportions in its motifs as the Clark vase is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, illustrated in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 12, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 28. Another two vases with the phoenix in the cloud collar were sold at auction, the first from the collection of the late S. H. Pao, sold at Sotheby's London, 15 April 1980, lot 237; and the second, sold in these Rooms, 31 October 1994, lot 542A.