Hongwu

Bowl with underglaze copper red decoration of peony scrolls Ming dynasty, Hongwu reign (1368-98). © National Palace Museum

A rare massive 'Longquan' celadon Charger. Ming Dynasty, Hongwu-Yongle period. Photo Sotheby"s of foliate shape, the heavily potted fluted sides rising from a sturdy ring foot to the everted racket rim, the interior carved with a large peony flower issuing from leafy stems, the cavetto with Indian lotus sprigs below foliate meander around the rim, the exterior with a band of joined lotus petals, all under a thick and lustrous celadon glaze, the firing ring on the underside oxidized to... [Lire la suite]

Chinese Ming banknote, China, AD 1375 © Trustees of the British Museum After seizing power from the Mongol rulers of China in 1368, the rulers of the Ming dynasty tried to reinstate bronze coins. However, there was not enough metal available for this, and paper money, made of mulberry bark, was produced. These banknotes continued to be issued by the Board of Revenue throughout the Ming dynasty, but inflation quickly eroded their value. The effect of inflation was so devastating that state-issued banknotes were regarded with... [Lire la suite]

A highly important and extremely fine early Ming underglaze-blue vase, yuhuchunping. Hongwu period (1368-1398). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2009. The well-potted pear-shaped vase decorated in cobalt with a distinct 'heaping and piling' effect on the globular body, with four peony blossoms rendered alternately full-faced and in profile, borne on a slender scrolling stem with serrated leaves and buds, between upright lotus petal panels and a pendent trefoil collar, the waisted neck encircled by a classic scroll, keyfret and... [Lire la suite]