Lot 73. An unusual wucai zun-form vase, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619). Height 4⅞ in., 12.3 cm. Estimate: 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot sold: 40,320 USD. © Sothebys.

the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double square. 

Literature: Rose Kerr et al., Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 110. 

Note: This vase belongs to a small group of similarly decorated Wanli-marked vases, including one in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, illustrated in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji/Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 740; one in the Tsui Art Foundation, included in the exhibition Joined Colors. Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain. Ceramics from Collectors in the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 54; and a third from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot. 434.