A Fine And Very Rare Blue And White ‘Lotus’ Temple Vase, Ming Dynasty, Chenghua Period.  Photo Sotheby's

the pear-shaped body supported on high splayed foot decorated with florets, each within four radiating leaves evenly spaced in three rows, the sides with an overall design of meandering lotus stems bearing upright blooms among numerous curling leaves, above a bold band of lappets alternately enclosing pomegranate motifs, the tall flared neck encircled around the waist with horizontal double lines enclosing a peach sprig on one side and a peony spray on the other and set with two rings pendent from loop handles springing from the jaws animal's heads picked out in blue, a band of blue ground ruyi lappets reserved with stylised lotus sprays and hung with beaded pendents extending from the galleried rim encircled with a key-fret border between plain raised bands, the underglaze-blue of bright tone; 39 cm., 15 3/8 in. Estimate 18,000,000—25,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 23,060,000 HKD (2,956,410 USD) to an Asian Private

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's London, 11^th December 1979, lot 278.
Collection of L. A. Basmadgieff.

NOTE: Chenghua porcelains remain amongst the rarest of all Ming wares and the present vase is exceptional for its shape and design. It is also special for its magnificent large size, a testament to the high level of technical skills achieved by artisans working in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. While Ming Imperial porcelains of the 15th century represent undoubtedly a peak of quality, beauty and inventiveness in the history of Chinese ceramics, Chenghua porcelain stands out among other things for the smooth and tactile quality of its glaze, which has not been matched in other periods. The pleasing glaze surface, combined with the expertly painted of the decoration make Chenghua pieces a delight to look at and to touch.

Only one other closely related vase appears to be recorded; possibly the pair to the present piece, sold at Christie's London, 4th November 2008, lot 155. The shape closely follows an earlier, Hongwu period, vase with ring-handles and decorated with a large sinuous dragon amongst clouds in underglaze-red, in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, included in the Exhibition of Ceramics throughout China's History from the Shanghai Museum, Seibu Art Museum, Tokyo, 1984, cat. no. 70; and another, the pair to the Shanghai Museum vase, in the Avery Brundage collection, San Francisco, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, col. pl. 6. Another earlier vase of related form but lacking the loose rings and painted with peony scrolls in underglaze-blue is published in Friedrich Reichel, 'Porzellane der Fruhen Ming-zeit in der Dresdener Porzellansammlung', Keramos, no. 43, January 1969, pl. 6.

The majority of Chenghua pieces that have survived are small utility wares such as bowls, cups and dishes. Vases of this period are extremely rare, and those in good condition even more unusual. Amongst surviving larger vessels see a bottle with a long neck and painted with phoenixes amongst lotus scrolls in underglaze-blue, illustrated in The Emperor's Broken China Reconstructing Chenghua Porcelain, London, 1995, cat. no. 47, together with a fragmentary ewer of the period, pl. 48.

Design elements seen on the present vase are repeated on a blue and white cup with sprigs of fan-lian type lotus, included in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, Taipei, 2003, pl. 55; and on a washer with formal lotus scroll motif, ibid., pl. 45.

Sotheby's. Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Apr 11, Hong Kong www.sothebys.com