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Lot Essay
Two closely related meiping of comparable height are known, one (36.1cm.) is in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, published by René Lefebvre d’Argencé in Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, p. 114, no. LII C, where it is dated Ming dynasty, 16th century, but later published by He Li in Chinese Ceramics A New Comprehensive Survey, San Francisco, 1996, pp. 290-91, no. 592, and re-dated to the Yongzheng period; the other from The Studio of the Clear Garden, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2018, lot 604 (36.8 cm.)(US$732,500)(fig. 1).
The white areas of the Asian Art Museum meiping have a network of crackling which may have occurred during its rapid cooling after the firing process. The same crackling also occurs on a similar reserve-decorated vase of this form but smaller (23.8 cm.) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-white Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book I, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 64, no. 12 (fig. 2). Originally catalogued as early Ming, it is possible that it also dates to the early Qing period. The Taiwan example is discussed by Soame Jenyns, T.O.C.S., vol. 31, 1957-59, ‘Visit to Pie-kou, Taiwan’, p. 56, pl. 15a.
The present meiping and the other similar examples are based on Yongle prototypes such as the similarly decorated vase but of slightly different form illustrated in the Chang Foundation exhibition catalogue, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 66 (fig. 3). On this excavated meiping, the body of the dragon is also carved under the clear glaze and is shown against a rich blue ground of breaking waves bordered above and below by bands of petal lappets. On the later Yongzheng meiping, the blue wave ground has become more of a dark blue wash and the breaking waves are confined to a band at the bottom.
The white areas of the Asian Art Museum meiping have a network of crackling which may have occurred during its rapid cooling after the firing process. The same crackling also occurs on a similar reserve-decorated vase of this form but smaller (23.8 cm.) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-white Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book I, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 64, no. 12 (fig. 2). Originally catalogued as early Ming, it is possible that it also dates to the early Qing period. The Taiwan example is discussed by Soame Jenyns, T.O.C.S., vol. 31, 1957-59, ‘Visit to Pie-kou, Taiwan’, p. 56, pl. 15a.
The present meiping and the other similar examples are based on Yongle prototypes such as the similarly decorated vase but of slightly different form illustrated in the Chang Foundation exhibition catalogue, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 66 (fig. 3). On this excavated meiping, the body of the dragon is also carved under the clear glaze and is shown against a rich blue ground of breaking waves bordered above and below by bands of petal lappets. On the later Yongzheng meiping, the blue wave ground has become more of a dark blue wash and the breaking waves are confined to a band at the bottom.