YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)

Although this appears to be an unrecorded combination of design, elements of the various patterns and designs can be found on other blue and white vases of this form dating to the Yuan dynasty. The unusual flame pearls surrounding the base of the neck can also be seen on a Yuan yuhuchunping sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 515, and on another example sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15 May 1990, lot 19, where another vase, on loan to the Cologne Museum from the Geiling Collection, is cited, which has alternating flame pearls and scroll panels around the neck, as found on the present vase. The panels of flowering branches around the mid-section are found on a number of vases of this date, but more unusual is the spiral border on the lower body. A vase with a similar spiral border, in the Percival David Foundation, is illustrated by M. Medley in Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, p. 46, p. 16a.