An extremely rare Ming-style doucai vase, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735)
Lot 1882. An extremely rare Ming-style doucai vase, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735), 9 3/4 in. (25 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 5,000,000 - HKD 7,000,000. Price realised HKD 10,740,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010
The compressed globular body with a tall splayed foot and elongated neck rising to an everted rim, finely pencilled in Chenghua-style with an Indian lotus meander issuing full formal blooms and curled leaves, the foot encircled by a formal scroll, the translucent enamels in tones of iron-red, yellow, aubergine and green, box.
Provenance: Previously sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Imperial Sale, 26 April 2004, lot 957
Exhibited: Osaka Municiple Museum, Art of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 1980, Catalogue, no. 163
Note: The present vase appears to be unique in its shape and pattern. The shape of this vase is derived from Chenghua prototypes although the pronounced lip and spreading base are Qing variations. A Ming dynasty example in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Daquan, Ceramics, 1994, p. 386, fig. 741.
The solid lotus in profile on a foliate ground in the Chenghua style appears most frequently on cups and bowls of the period. A doucai cup is illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua, The Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic Archaeology and the Tsui Museum of Art, 1993, p. 279, no. C95. Blue and white bowls are illustrated ibid., p. 231, no. C71, and p. 245, no. C78. The style, though less defined, can be traced back to the earlier 15th century as exemplified by a vase from the Xuande period formerly in the Palmer Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 17 January 1989, lot 572.
Christie's. The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2010, Hong Kong