18TH CENTURY

Details

A SMALL AND UNUSUAL DOUCAI VASE
18TH CENTURY
The vase is molded with two bulbous sections, possibly in imitation of bamboo, and is decorated with composite floral scroll beneath a ruyi border at the mouth rim. The base is inscribed with a three-character hallmark in iron-red reading, Ben li tang.
4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Samuel Putnam Avery Sr. (1822-1904) Collection, New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accessioned in 1879.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪) Senior Specialist, VP

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Ben li tang may be loosely translated as Hall of Establishing Fundamentals. The expression would appear to be derived from the Analects of Confucius, where a disciple of Confucius, You Zi states, “The noble man concerns himself with the fundamentals. Once the fundamentals are established (ben li) the proper way appears.”

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