WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1620)

Produced during the Wanli period, this rare basin exemplifies the technical brilliance and vibrant aesthetic of wucai ware at its peak. The finely potted octafoil form, distinguished by its elegant shape and harmonious proportions, demonstrates the sophisticated craftsmanship required to achieve such a complex design.

The present basin is particularly unusual for the combination of its auspicious dragon-and-phoenix decoration and octafoil form. This motif is more commonly encountered on hexafoil basins, such as an example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 September 1992, lot 485. Two further hexafoil basins with the dragon-and-pheonix decoration include the example illustrated in 100 Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Tokyo National Museum Collection, Tokyo, 2008, p. 55, no. 44, and the basin illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 753.

While hexafoil basins appear to have been the more common format for dragon-and-phoenix decoration, a comparable wucai octafoil basin decorated with dragons is found in the Idemitsu Collection and illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 204.