Lot 873. A rare iron-red-enamelled and green-glazed double-gourd vase, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566); 21.6 cm high, hardwood stand, silk pouch, Japanese double wood box. Estimate USD 400,000 – USD 600,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The vase is decorated with sweeping stems of leafy scroll enclosing lotus blossoms, separated by a band of lingzhi meander encircling the waist, all painted in iron red reserved on a bright green ground and within white borders outlined in iron red.

Provenance : Yamanaka & Co., Japan, late 1920s-early 1930s (by repute).
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: The lotus scroll decoration and combination of green and red colors found on this vase are reminiscent of the design and color palette found on Chenghua-period ceramics. See a green-decorated red-ground tripod censer excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen, illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua: Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 188-89.

Other Jiajing double-gourd vases of this design include an example from the Grandidier Collection, illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, pl. 12; one formerly from the Bloxam Collection, illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 9:94, one from the Ataka Collection in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, illustrated in the Catalogue, Osaka, 1998, no. 31; one in the Sumitomo collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, p. 78, no. 54; one in the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, illustrated by A. Leth, Catalogue of Selected Objects of Chinese Art in the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 1959, no. 114; one from the Eumorfopoulos Collection, illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, no. 164; and another illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, no. 707.

 Lot 874. A Dehua figure of Guanyin, 17th-18th century; 22.9 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 18,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

 The Goddess of Mercy is shown seated with the right hand set on the raised right knee, and the left arm resting on a three-legged support with hand gently grasping a ruyi scepter. The figure is swathed in a long, flowing robe which falls open at the chest to reveal a ruyi-shaped necklace. The hair is held in a high chignon by a ruyi-shaped hairpin. The reverse is impressed with a four-character seal reading Lin Xizong yin (seal of Lin Xizong), and the base is carved with two characters, Ru Hao, possibly a name.

Provenance : Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Lot 875. A small wucai 'dragon' cup, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1620); 8.2 cm diam., jichimu box. Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 18,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The shallow cup with slightly everted lip is decorated on the exterior with three front-facing five-clawed dragons amidst flaming pearls in underglaze blue, iron-red enamel, and yellow and green glazes. The interior is decorated with a phoenix in underglaze blue within double circles.

Provenance : Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: The combination of polychrome enamel decoration on the exterior and underglaze-blue decoration on the interior is rare. A bowl with a phoenix similarly rendered in underglaze blue on the interior, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, vol. II, Beijing, 2018, p. 692, no. 408. However, instead of three front-facing dragons, the exterior of the Beijing Palace bowl is decorated with four striding dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls.

Lot 876. A very rare blue and white Ming-style hexafoil bowl, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 22.2 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 18,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The conical bowl with flared sides rises to a lobed rim and is decorated on the interior with a central medallion of a fruiting and flowering peach branch below six flowers in the well and a narrow band of flower sprigs at the rim. The exterior is decorated with an upper register of six different fruiting and flowering branches above a lower register of six different flowers. The foot is encircled by a band of classic scroll.

Provenance : Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: The current bowl is based on early Ming dynasty Xuande-period prototypes. A blue and white bowl with very similar design and bearing a Xuande mark, but dating to the Kangxi period, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Ming Chu Qinghuaci (Early Ming Blue and White Ceramics in the Palace Museum Collection), vol. 2, Beijing, 2002, pp. 334-35, no. 179. Also illustrated, pp. 278-79, no. 146, is the Xuande prototype for this bowl.

Lot 877. A flambé-glazed fanghu-form vase, Qianlong incised six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 29.8 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

Of rectangular section with indented corners on the neck, which is flanked by a pair of rectangular lug handles, the vase is molded on each main side with a peach-shaped cartouche, and is covered overall with an unctuous glaze of dark purple tone streaked with lavender and turquoise, thinning to beige at the lobed edges and handles. The base is covered with a brown wash.

Provenance : Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: A flambé-glazed vase of this form with a Qianlong seal mark is illustrated by J. J. Marquet de Vasselot and M.-J. Ballot, The Louvre Museum: Chinese Ceramics, vol. II, Paris, 1922, pl. 35. Another Qianlong-marked flambé-glazed hu-form vase of similar height (11 5/8 in.) was sold at Christie’s New York, 17 September 2008, lot 521.

Christie's. Mineo Hata: An Instinctive Eye, New York, 21 september 2023