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14 novembre 2008

A rare blue and white four-sided 'shou-character' vase. Late 16th/early 17th century

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A rare blue and white four-sided 'shou-character' vase. Late 16th/early 17th century

Of square section with gently rounded sides and a globular lower body rising to a high neck with an everted rim, vibrantly painted around the four sides with pairs of Daoist Immortals walking amidst a cloudy, mountainous landscape, framed below by a high band of lappets, and above by four cartouches enclosing birds perched on flowering branches, the facets of the high waisted neck alternately painted with upright pine and prunus, the prunus twisted to form a stylised shou character, the base partially glazed. 53.1cm (21in) high. Sold for £48,000

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Footnote: The shape of this vase does not appear to be recorded. Certain elements of the form and design strongly indicate a late 16th/early 17th century date. The unusual quadrangular form with gently rounded sides appeared as a popular form in the Jiajing period, as can be seen in a group of vases with short necks; see an example with a Jiajing mark illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Vol.1, Tokyo, 1976, p.282, fig.845.

The same high lappet border at the base appears to be a distinctly Jiajing/Wanli period feature, and a similar one can be seen on a quadrangular vase, dated to the second half of the 16th century, in the Musée Adrien-Duchouché in Limoges, France, illustrated by D.Lion-Goldschmidt, La Porcelaine Ming, Frisbourg, 1978, p.166, fig.170. Equally, the lobed cartouches at the shoulder are mirrored by similar cartouches on a mark and period Wanli jar sold by Mayuyama, ibid, fig.930 and on a rare Longqing mark and period quadrangular wucai vase in the Tokyo National Museum, also illustrated by D.Lion-Goldschmidt, ibid, p.170, fig.176.

The use of pairs of Immortals as a decorative element also supports the late 16th/early 17th date for the present lot; compare a Jiajing period vase with a square lower section similarly painted with the pairs in the British Museum, London, illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.230, fig.9:34.

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(Copyright © 2002-2008 Bonhams 1793 Ltd., Images and Text All Rights Reserved)

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 6 Nov 2008. New Bond Street www.bonhams.com

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