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Lot Essay
The form of the present vase, reminiscent of a pomegranate fruit, first appeared on Chinese porcelain in blue and white in the early 15th century, mostly unmarked, but a few extremely rare ones, including the present vase, bear a Xuande mark on the base.
Only three other blue and white vases of this design bearing Xuande marks appear to have been published, one is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 117, no. 111, another in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Zhongguo guojia bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu - ciqi juan – Mingdai, Shanghai, 2007, p. 65, no. 33, and the third from the Pilkington Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 19.
Several unmarked pomegranate-form vases of this design are known, including one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Ming Underglaze Blue Porcelains: Decorative Motifs and Glazes, Taipei, 2015, pp. 107-108, no. 20; one in the collection of Alan Chuang, illustrated in The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 8; one excavated in Beijing and now in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan cang ci xuan, Beijing, 1991, no. 103; two from the Wu Lai-hsi collection, one sold at Sotheby’s London, 16 June 1939, lot 106, another in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, registration number: PDF,B.634; and one from the collection of H.R.N. Norton, sold at Sotheby’s London, 5 November 1963, lot 163, was included in the exhibition Mostra d’Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, no. 630.
The lingzhi motif had already appeared on porcelain from the Yuan dynasty, although as part of the secondary bands, as exemplified by the cover of a jar excavated from a hoard in Gao’an, Jiangxi Province, included in the exhibition Splendors in Smalt: Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 178-179, no. 58. It was not until the early-Ming dynasty when lingzhi became the dominant motif. For other examples of the Xuande period decorated with lingzhi as the primary motif, see two jars in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2015, pp. 92-93, no.19, and pp. 94-95, no. 20, it is interesting to note that there are two caps on each of the lingzhi spray on the former jar, as in the case of the present vase as well, while the lingzhi spray on the later jar depicts three caps, showing the variations in design found on imperial porcelain of this era.
The present vase was sold at the Osaka Bijutsu Club on 19 February 1939, the catalogue accompanies this lot.
Only three other blue and white vases of this design bearing Xuande marks appear to have been published, one is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 117, no. 111, another in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Zhongguo guojia bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu - ciqi juan – Mingdai, Shanghai, 2007, p. 65, no. 33, and the third from the Pilkington Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 19.
Several unmarked pomegranate-form vases of this design are known, including one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Ming Underglaze Blue Porcelains: Decorative Motifs and Glazes, Taipei, 2015, pp. 107-108, no. 20; one in the collection of Alan Chuang, illustrated in The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 8; one excavated in Beijing and now in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan cang ci xuan, Beijing, 1991, no. 103; two from the Wu Lai-hsi collection, one sold at Sotheby’s London, 16 June 1939, lot 106, another in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, registration number: PDF,B.634; and one from the collection of H.R.N. Norton, sold at Sotheby’s London, 5 November 1963, lot 163, was included in the exhibition Mostra d’Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, no. 630.
The lingzhi motif had already appeared on porcelain from the Yuan dynasty, although as part of the secondary bands, as exemplified by the cover of a jar excavated from a hoard in Gao’an, Jiangxi Province, included in the exhibition Splendors in Smalt: Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 178-179, no. 58. It was not until the early-Ming dynasty when lingzhi became the dominant motif. For other examples of the Xuande period decorated with lingzhi as the primary motif, see two jars in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2015, pp. 92-93, no.19, and pp. 94-95, no. 20, it is interesting to note that there are two caps on each of the lingzhi spray on the former jar, as in the case of the present vase as well, while the lingzhi spray on the later jar depicts three caps, showing the variations in design found on imperial porcelain of this era.
The present vase was sold at the Osaka Bijutsu Club on 19 February 1939, the catalogue accompanies this lot.