JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)

Small double-gourd shaped vases from this period appear to be extremely rare. An identical example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 April 2002, lot 614. Two Jiajing-marked examples of almost identical size and shape, but decorated with striding dragons amidst jagged clouds, are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and National Palace Museum, Taipei, the former illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 84; the latter in Blue-and-White Wares of the Ming Dynasty, Book V, Hong Kong, 1963, pl. 12a-b. An example in the Percival David Foundation, now housed at the British Museum, is illustrated in Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains, Revised Edition 2004, London, p. 24, no. 611.