An extremely rare early Ming blue and white flask, bianhu, Yongle period (1403-1424). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2014

The sturdily potted flask of circular form with a flattened base and a short cylindrical neck. It is painted in cobalt-blue with characteristic heaping and piling on the domed front with a central raised boss detailed with crashing waves, surrounded by a wide band of composite floral scrolls. The meandering foliage is supporting various blooms and associated buds. The sides of the flask are similarly decorated within lined borders and applied at either side of the mouth with a pair of loop handles. The base is unglazed with a countersunk central recess. 15 1/2 in. (39.5 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate HK$20,000,000 – HK$30,000,000 ($2,591,454 - $3,887,181).Unsold.

Provenance: A Swedish collection
Sold at Christie's London 6 November 2007, lot 156
THE PROPERTY OF GENTLEMAN

Notes: This very rare porcelain flask provides interesting evidence of the influence of the cultures of the Islamic west on Chinese porcelain in the early 15th century. A number of Chinese porcelains were made at that time in forms that show the influence of Islamic artefacts - usually metalwork or glass, but this flask form is one of the rarest. The form of the current porcelain flask is very distinctive, and evidence suggests that it was probably inspired by Islamic metalwork. There is a slightly larger Syrian brass canteen, dating to the mid-13th century, in the collection of the Freer Gallery, Washington, which is of similar form. Interestingly the brass canteen is decorated with Christian imagery as well as calligraphy, geometric designs and animal scrolls. The form of the Syrian canteen is, however, close to the Chinese porcelain example in that it is circular, with a flat back and domed front, and has a decorative roundel in the centre of the domed surface.

The turbulent waves and small eddies, that form the decorative roundel on the raised boss in the centre of the domed side of the present flask, are interesting because they are usually seen on early 15th century porcelains in horizontal bands around, for example, the necks of tankards, like the vessel from the Burrell Collection (illustrated by R. Marks, R. Scott, et. al, The Burrell Collection, Collins, Glasgow, 1984, p. 53, no. 17), or around the cylindrical bodies of albarellos like the example in the Freer Gallery (illustrated in Oriental Ceramics - The World's Great Collections, vol. 9, The Freer Gallery of Art, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1981, pl. no. 96), and the example offered in the present sale, lot 3416. Similar turbulent waves and eddies also appear as background on some early 15th century porcelains, such as the famous stem bowl with underglaze blue waves and underglaze copper red dragons in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated by R. Scott, Imperial Taste - Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundtion, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1989, p. 63, no. 33), and similar stem bowls which have been excavated from the site of the imperial Ming kilns at Jingdezhen.

An early 15th century blue and white porcelain flask of the same size, form and decoration as the current example is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (fig. 1). The Taipei flask has lost not only its loose ring handles, but also its loop handles, however its neck and mouth are in tact. Another flask of the same form and decoration, but, at 30.4 cm. in height, of smaller size than the current example, is in collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Blue and White with Underglaze Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commerical Press, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 36, no. 34). This Beijing flask has retained both neck and loop handles, but no longer has its loose ring handles.

In fact the Palace Museum, Beijing, has four of these early 15th century blue and white porcelain flasks from the Qing court collection, each of different size and displaying three different decorative schemes (illustrated ibid., nos. 35, 36, and 37). The second flask, in ascending order at size at 45 cm. in height, has turbulent waves and eddies painted over the entirety of its sides (no. 35), in place of the floral scroll on the current vessel. The Beijing flask has the floral scroll as an outer band on its domed surface. The rest of the domed surface is decorated with an Islamic-inspired lattice, while the central boss has a roundel of waves and eddies, similar to those on the current flask. The third Beijing flask (H: 46 cm.) is painted with smaller waves acting as background on the raised boss, but the main decoration in that area is an Islamic inspired lattice star. The sides of this Beijing flask are decorated with a floral scroll similar to that on the current vessel, as is the major part of the domed section, but the domed section also has an encircling band of waves and eddies. This Beijing flask is of the same form, size and decoration as a further flask in the collection of the Freer Gallery in Washington, and another that was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 November 1999, lot 311. The Beijing flasks have been discussed by Professor Geng Baochang in Ming Qing ciqi jianding, 1993; where he also provides line drawings of the proportions.

A notable feature of all these porcelain flasks is that they have a circular recess in their flat, unglazed side. It seems possible that this domed recess was there to lessen the danger of warping when such a large and heavy vessel was fired. The flat, unfired, sides of all these flasks, including the current example, have darkened radial lines left by a cruciform, six- or eight-legged setter. The potters may have found that it was preferable not to have the recessed central section in contact with the setter all the way across its diameter, and the central recess prevented this. Certainly these large flasks would have offered challenges both for potting and firing. Probably few were ever successfully manufactured, and thus very few of these impressive vessels have survived into the current day.

Christie's. THROUGH CONNOISSEURS' EYES - WORKS OF ART FOR THE EMPEROR, 28 May 2014, Hong Kong - http://www.christies.com/