Lot 622. A blue and white 'Eight Drunken Immortals' jar, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); d. 39.5 cm. Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2024

the sturdily-potted baluster body rising from a spreading foot to a short tapering neck and lipped rim, the exterior or the body painted with a continuous landscape scene of the Eight Drunken Immortals, all between bands of cresting waves encircling the upper shoulder and foot, the one around the neck further decorated with four horses, all below a diapered border encircling the neck.

Provenance: Collection of Hirota Fukkosai (a.k.a. Matsushige)(1897-1973), founder of Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
Collection of Kushi Takushi (1898-1973), acquired from the above, 8th December 1943.

Literature: Fujio Koyama et al (eds), Sekai Toji Zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Ming, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 160.

Exhibited: Chugokutoji Gen Ming Meihinten [Chinese Ceramics from the Yuan - Ming Dynasties], The Japan Ceramic Society, Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1956, cat. no. 15.
Kaikan Tokubetsu Shuppin Seihin Senshu [Special Opening Exhibition - Anthology of Selected Masterpieces], Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, 2005, cat. no. 77.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: A Selection I, Hong Kong, 29 October 2024