Lot Essay
This xi is one of a small group of fine quality Xuande period washers with fluted sides and appears to be the largest recorded example of its type.
Three smaller Xuande-marked washers of similar form and decoration are known. The first in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in the Catalogue, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, pt.I, pl.24; the second in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Kodasha Series, vol.6, fig. 94; the last sold in Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 117.
Compare also the other published examples of this form but with different decoration including a Xuande-marked washer with an identical dragon in the central medallion, but with roundels containing the ascending and descending dragons around the exterior, sold in Hong Kong, 27 October 1992, lot 35. Another washer of this pattern but with an additional dragon medallion within the interior of the base, sold in Hong Kong, 14 November 1989, lot 18. A smaller washer with a pair of phoenixes both in the medallion and in the roundels around the exterior from the Sedgwick and Edward Chow collections sold in Hong Kong, 19 May 1981, lot 405 and is illustrated by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl.21b. Two Xuande-marked washers with a combination of dragons and phoenixes are known: the first from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in the Catalogue, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, pt.I, pl.23; the second from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Mayuyama, Chogoku Bunbutsu Kenbun, pl.24. Washers decorated with fish within a lotus pond are known. Cf. the example discovered in Tianji illustrated in Wenwu, 1977, no.1, p.92, fig.2. Cf. also, the example from the Clark Collection illustrated by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl.19; a final washer painted with branches bearing fruit was included in the National Palace Museum Special Exhibition of Early Ming Porcelain, 1982, Catalogue, no.46
Three smaller Xuande-marked washers of similar form and decoration are known. The first in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in the Catalogue, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, pt.I, pl.24; the second in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Kodasha Series, vol.6, fig. 94; the last sold in Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 117.
Compare also the other published examples of this form but with different decoration including a Xuande-marked washer with an identical dragon in the central medallion, but with roundels containing the ascending and descending dragons around the exterior, sold in Hong Kong, 27 October 1992, lot 35. Another washer of this pattern but with an additional dragon medallion within the interior of the base, sold in Hong Kong, 14 November 1989, lot 18. A smaller washer with a pair of phoenixes both in the medallion and in the roundels around the exterior from the Sedgwick and Edward Chow collections sold in Hong Kong, 19 May 1981, lot 405 and is illustrated by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl.21b. Two Xuande-marked washers with a combination of dragons and phoenixes are known: the first from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in the Catalogue, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, pt.I, pl.23; the second from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Mayuyama, Chogoku Bunbutsu Kenbun, pl.24. Washers decorated with fish within a lotus pond are known. Cf. the example discovered in Tianji illustrated in Wenwu, 1977, no.1, p.92, fig.2. Cf. also, the example from the Clark Collection illustrated by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl.19; a final washer painted with branches bearing fruit was included in the National Palace Museum Special Exhibition of Early Ming Porcelain, 1982, Catalogue, no.46