Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 29 November 2017, Hong Kong
A very rare carved Longquan celadon yuhuchunping, Ming dynasty, early 15th century
Lot 2995. A very rare carved Longquan celadon yuhuchunping, Ming dynasty, early 15th century; 13 1/4 in. (33.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 437,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017
The pear-shaped body of the vase is carved with a continuous scene of leafy plantain and rocks in a fenced garden, all above a lappet band by the foot. The shoulder is decorated with a carved ruyi-head band below a trellis band and a keyfret band, followed by a band of stiff leaves to the neck rising to the lipped rim; Japanese Meiji-period (1868-1912) paulownia wood box.
Provenance: A Japanese private collector, actively collecting prior to the 1980s
Note: The Yuhuchunping form was produced during the Yuan and early Ming period, but the plantain decorative pattern was only used during the early Ming period. Compare with a similar plantain-decorated blue and white Yuhuchunping vase, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, no.33. See also the bodies of two longquan ewers with near identical decorations of the leafy plantain and lappet band, illustrated in Green: Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, no. 61 and Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, Japan, 2012, no. 86.