Lot 654. A fahua meiping, Ming dynasty, 16th century. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 56,250 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

glazed in aubergine, turquoise and yellow reserved against a deep blue ground, depicting a sage drifting towards a pavilion enshrouded in clouds approached by an attendant carrying a wrapped qin, between a ruyi-collar enclosing lotus blossoms at the shoulder and a lappet band below, the interior applied with a yellow glaze, Japanese wood box (2). Height 11 1/4  in., 28.6 cm 

Provenance: Collection of Edson Bradley (1852-1935).
Collection of J. Insley Blair (1870-1939). 

Literature: The J. Insley Blair Collection of Chinese Porcelain, New York, 1925, pl. VIII, cat. no. 25.

Note: Another vase of this type and subject from the Qing court collection, now housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin daxi: za you cai, su sancai / The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enameled Porcelains, Plain Tricolored Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, cat. no. 234.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art New York, 15 Mar 2017