Lot 1044. Property from a Private Japanese Collection. A rare yellow and green-glazed rectangular 'dragon' tile, Zhengde-Jiajing period (1506-1566); 28 x 18.4 x 3.8 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Imperial Oriental Art, New York, 1990s.

Note: A virtually identical tile of the same size is in the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, and is illustrated by M. Medley in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Polychrome Wares, London, 1978, pl. IV, no. 35, where it is dated Ming, c. 1500. In her discussion of the tile on p. 21, Medley notes, “Three other tiles of this kind are recorded; one is in the Princessehof Museum at Leeuwarden in Holland and is illustrated by Nanne Ottema in Chineesche Ceramiek, p. 109, fig. 126, and another is in the Hultmark Collection in Sweden, illustrated by Reidemeister in Ming Porzellan, pl. 52; Reidemeister attributed this example to the Wan-li period. The third one is in the Victoria and Albert Museum; this is attributed to early in the 15th century.” Another very similar tile of this size is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated by Geng Baocheng, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui (Selection of Ancient Ceramic Material from the Palace Museum), Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, p. 192, no. 166, where it is dated to the Jiajing period.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19-20 September 2024