Lot 3257. A rare large Qingbai carved vase, meiping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 11 ½ in. (29.2 cm.) high. Estimate $30,000 – $50,000. Price realised $32,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The elegantly-potted, high-shouldered vase is crisply carved with a band of four large peony blooms borne on a continuous, meandering leafy stem, between two molded bow-string bands. The tapering lower section is encircled by a band of upright lotus petals, and the shoulder is carved with a band of scrolls below the short, cylindrical neck. The vase is covered in a semi-translucent glaze of aquamarine tone pooling in the recessed areas, and stopping irregularly on three bow-string bands above the recessed foot. 

Provenance: Private collection, London, 2000.
Chinese Porcelain Company, New York.

Note: A very similar, slightly smaller (27.5 cm.), meiping is illustrated in Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, pp. 436-37, no. 200, and is also dated to the Yuan dynasty. 

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test, P114n10, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 15 - 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza