Lot 839. A blue and white 'lotus' bowl, Ming dynasty, 15th century; d. 21,2 cm. Lot Sold 120,650 HKD (Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Lot 840. A polychrome-enamelled 'dragon' jar, Ming dynasty, 16th century; d. 21 cm. Lot Sold 177,800 HKD (Estimate 120,000 - 180,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo.
A Japanese private collection.

Exhibited: The Collection of Chinese Art II - Special Exhibition ‘Strolled for last ten years’, Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo, 2017, cat. no. 111.

Lot 843. A wucai fan-shaped 'figures' box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620), with a custom-made silver teapot by Heian Zoroku for the Wangli wucai cover, two Japanese wood boxes inscribed with characters reading Heian Zoroku Zou (make by Heian Zouroku); box l. 8.5 cm; teapot l. 16.2 cm. Lot Sold 228,600 HKD (Estimate 80,000 - 120,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Lot 844. A wucai ‘flower and bird’ sweetmeat box, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620); d. 24.2 cm. Lot Sold 44,450 HKD (Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

 Provenance: J.T. Tai & Co., New York.
Sotheby's New York, 22nd March 2011, lot 300.

Lot 845. A wucai rectangular 'dragon and phoenix' brush box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620); overall 29.6 by 11.4 by h. 9.5 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 177,800 HKD (Estimate 120,000 - 180,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: A Japanese private collection. 

Note: Wanli covered brush boxes of this type were typically painted in blue and white or wucai palette; the cover was decorated with either the 'dragon and phoenix' design as seen on the present piece, or with a 'double dragon' design. For similar wucai examples, see one in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Chugoku Toji Zenshu [Complete book of Chinese ceramics], vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 38; and another sold in our New York rooms, 23rd March 2010, lot 75. 

See also three wucai 'double dragon' comparables: the first one in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in the Hirota Collection Catalogue, cat. no. 151; another in the Ise Collection, illustrated in The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 65; and a third example illustrated in Masterpieces from Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Cultures, Hyogo, 1990, pl. 83.

Lot 856. A blue and white Chinese export 'Royal Family Arms of Spain' pilgrim flask, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620); h. 29.8 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 95,250 HKD (Estimate 30,000 - 40,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

decorated on the front with the arms of Royal arms Spain, Castile and Léon quarterly around a cross within a circular medallion, the reverse painted with a scholar and attendant in landscape.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: The present example is from a well-known and extensively researched group of flasks bearing the arms of Castile and Léon quartered by a cross in the center. The reverse of the vases are either decorated with a scholar and attendant, or floral decorations. However the provenance of the present lot is particularly interesting, as it appears to be one of the very few examples formerly in a Japanese collection that appeared on the market in the last four decades. While most scholarship on vases of this type is centered on European influences, a very small select group of these vases appear in Japan, with examples found in the Tokyo National Museum, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo and Tama Art University, Tokyo. The latter two examples were illustrated and discussed in Nishida Hiroko, ‘Meiji no Seihou Yushutsu (Ming Export Porcelain for the West 明磁の西方輸出)’, Sekai Toji Zenshu: Mei [Ceramic Art of the World: Ming Dynasty], vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, pp 300-301, figs 196-198.

Compare two nearly identical pilgrim flasks, one formerly in the Wolf Family Collection, sold in our New York rooms, 19th April 2023, lot 45. The other sold at Christie's London, November 2, 1987, lot 385, entered the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, and is illustrated in William R. Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, Concord, 2012, cat. no. 185, pp. 348-351.

 Lot 846. A set of five blue and white polychrome-enamelled dishes, Ming dynasty, Tianqi Period (1573-1620); with apocryphal Chenghua marks, each d. 15 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 35,560 HKD (Estimate 15,000 - 20,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Provenance: A Japanese private collection. 

Lot 849. Property from the Victor Shaw Collection. A blue and white 'landscape' brushpot, Late Ming - early Qing dynasty; h. 17 cm, wood stand. Lot Sold 127,000 HKD (Estimate 30,000 - 40,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Lot 851. Property from the Victor Shaw Collection. A small blue and white 'landscape' bottle vase, Late Ming - early Qing dynasty; h. 16.9 cm, wood stand. Lot Sold 63,500 HKD (Estimate 50,000 - 70,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

Sotheby's. Polychrome, Hong Kong, 6 December 2023