Lot 1321. A rare massive blue and white beaker vase, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a line and of the period (1573-1619); 27 15/16 in. (71 cm.) high. Estimate $80,000 - $120,000. Price realised USD 92,500. 
© Christie's Images Ltd 2010

Painted around the upper body with alternating baskets and bowls containing flowers arranged as if in a landscape, above insects in flight amidst flowering plants on the lower body, with a decorative band of floral scroll at the foot, the tall neck encircled by a wide bow-string band separating a band of composite floral scroll and a band of upright leaves, the upright rim painted with a band of classic scroll interrupted by the reign mark written in a rectangular panel, box.

Provenance: Japanese private collection.

Notes: The design on the present vase is very rare, and no other similar blue and white examples appear to have been published. However, a Wanli-marked wucai vase of slightly smaller size (68.5 cm.) is illustrated by A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 170, pl. 1. Another wucai example in the Matsuoka Art Museum, Japan, is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Japan, 1976, pl. 916. See, also, the very similar wucai vase sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29 April 2002, lot 618.

Lot 1322. An unusual blue and white square bowl, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566); 6 5/8 in. (16.7 cm.) diam. Estimate $30,000 - $50,000. Price realised USD 37,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

The thickly potted, flared sides rising to a slightly everted rim, painted on each side of the exterior with a lively five-clawed dragon leaping amidst lingzhi fungus, all within double-line borders, the interior with a shou character in a double square in the center below a band of classic scroll at the rim.

Notes: A Jiajing period bowl of similar shape, with similar decoration in underglaze blue, reserved on a yellow ground, is illustrated in The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1981, p. 197, no. 811. An aubergine, green and yellow-decorated example is illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S. C. Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, Part I, p. 118, no. 70, where it is noted that square bowls of this type were popular during the Jiajing period, but their popularity declined after the Wanli period.

Lot 1366. A rare small blue and white jar, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566); 5 in. (12.7 cm.) high. Estimate $18,000 - $25,000. Price realised 140,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

Well painted with scholars in a terraced landscape participating in three of the 'Four Arts of the Scholar', including practicing calligraphy, playing the qin and playing weiqi, all between borders of stylized leafy scroll.

Provenance: Christie's, New York, 30 November 1983, lot 83.

Lot 1323. An unusual large blue and white deep bowl, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 11 13/16 in. (29.9 cm.) diam. Estimate $15,000 - $20,000. Price realised USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

Heavily potted with deep rounded sides, painted on the exterior with four characters, fu shou kang ning, formed by the twisted trunks of a pine tree, a prunus tree, a chrysanthemum stem and bamboo, all growing amidst tufts of grass and between double line borders.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 1970.

Note: The characters, fu shou kang ning, are a birthday wish for happiness, long life, good health and peace.
Compare the similarly decorated bowl of this deep rounded shape, also with Wanli mark, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 35 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 229, no. 209.

Lot 1318. A rare small blue and white cylindrical tripod censer, Ming dynasty, circa 1450; 3½ in. (8.8 cm.) high Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price realised USD 7,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

Of cylindrical form, raised on three short feet painted with classic scrolls, decorated around the exterior with scholars in a landscape setting with a thatched-roof hut in the distance, all beneath wispy clouds and a continuous border of ruyi heads at the rim

Lot 1368. A blue and white 'dragon and phoenix' bowl, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle (1522-1566); 5 7/16 in. (13.8 cm.) diam. Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price realised USD 40,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

With steep sides, painted in the interior with a roundel of a striding five-clawed dragon and phoenix in flight amidst leafy lotus and floral scrolls, the exterior painted in similar fashion within double-line borders beneath the rounded rim and above the unglazed foot encircling the countersunk base, box.

Provenance: Joe Yuey, San Francisco.
Bluett, London

. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 16 - 17 September 2010, New York