A massive blue and white 'dragon' meiping, Wanli six-character mark in a line and of the period (1573-1619)
Lot 167. A massive blue and white 'dragon' meiping, Wanli six-character mark in a line and of the period (1573-1619); 25 in. (63.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000 (USD 25,643 - USD 38,465). Price realised HKD 350,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019
Of an impressive size, sturdily potted with broad rounded shoulders tapering to a narrow foot, painted with two leaping five-clawed dragons amidst flames and freely scrolling lotus, all between lappet bands with trefoil borders, the reign mark inscribed in a line below the waisted neck.
Provenance: Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 621.
Note: There are two vases of identical shape and design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, the larger (72 cm. high overall) with covers, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, plate 160; and the smaller example (43 cm. high), plate 161. Eight blue and white meiping of this form, including three of this exact design, still with their covers, were discovered in the Wanli Emperor’s tomb, Ding Ling, among the few porcelain items found when the tomb was excavated in 1958. The proceeding lot 3109 is also of this rare pattern.
Christie's. The Pavilion Sale - Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Including the Quek Kiok Lee Collection, Hong Kong, 9 October 2019