Lot 96. A large and rare 'Fahua' jar, Ming dynasty, circa 1500; height 15 7/8 in., 40.3 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot Sold 146,500 USD. photo Sotheby's 2011

well potted of baluster form, the broad shoulders and sides tapering toward a flared base, surmounted by a short neck with a lipped rim, the body decorated in yellow, turquoise, white and aubergine enamels against an ink-blue ground with three Star Gods with halos, each dressed in luxurious robes and seated at a low table, flanked by attendants, and accompanied by Xiwangmu with an attendant holding a tray of peaches, set between a band of small lappets and Daoist emblems on the shoulders, the foot encircled with a band of lappets, the neck with wispy cloud scrolls set on an intricate honey-comb design.

Provenance: Rare Art, New York, 1973.

Exhibited: On loan to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965 - 1971.

Note: A small Fahua tile in the British Museum collection is similarly decorated with deities, identified as the Three Official Great Primordial Rulers (San Guan Da Di), popular Daoist stellar deities also known as the controllers of Heaven, Earth and Water, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 426-427, pl. 13.35. A virtually identical jar is illustrated in Regina Krahl, The Anthony de Rothschild Collection of Chinese Ceramics, n.p., 1996, vol. 1, no. 87.

Sotheby's. Informing the Eye of the Collector: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art from J.T. Tai & Co. 22 Mar 11. New York