A Fine and Rare Blue and White Double-Handled Vase, Jiajing Mark and Period. photo Sotheby's

the superbly potted body of compressed pear-shape, painted in a rich underglaze-blue with a pair of confronted dragons beneath stylized interlocking scrolls, a keyfret border set between two raised bands, flanked by a pair of loop handles springing from monster masks and set with loose-rings, both decorated with leaf motifs, the flared neck with further interlocking scrolls, all above a stepped and slightly splayed foot encircled by ruyi and scroll bands, the blue of vibrant and rich tone, the six-character Jiajing mark on the galleried rim; height 7 in., 17.7 cm. Estimate 250,000—300,000 USD. Lot Sold 1,052,500 USD to Shanghai Tianwuguan Art Fund

PROVENANCE: Higuchi Family Collection.
Osaka Bijutsu Club auction, 3rd June 1931, no. 66.
Yamauchi Family Collection.
Kyoto Bijutsu Club auction, 21st January 1935, no. 196.

NOTE: The present vase belongs to a group of small blue and white vases which derived from larger prototypes dated to the Yuan and early Ming dynasty. For an example of a larger vase of related form made during the late Yuan dynasty, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 1:42. Harrison-Hall further speculates that vases of this shape were based on ancient bronze hu vessels, where the angular mouth and handles would be more appropriate.

By the Jiajng period, porcelain production was more advanced, which allowed for more delicate potting and intricately painted designs, making it possible for these vases to be made in smaller forms, such as the present lot. A very similar example painted with phoenix birds in the Palace Museum collection, is illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 89. See also a vase of the same shape without loose-ring handles dated to the Zhengde period in the British Museum, op. cit., pl. 8:18. Three further related examples of slightly larger sizes are in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Blue-And-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1963, pls. 6, 7 and 8

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 23 Mar 11. New York www.sothebys.com