Lot 21. A rare blue and white quatrafoil baluster vase and cover, Jiajing four-character mark and of the period (1522-1566); 20.3cm high jar; overall 24.4cm high. Sold for US$70,350 (Estimate US$60,000-90,000). © Bonhams 2025

The ovoid body molded into four lobes and freely painted with an overall network of interlocking peony blossoms and radiating leafy foliage under a wide petal-form cloud canopy enclosing delicate stalks of lotus blossoms flanking a shou character below a neck with a composite scrolling band, the cover similarly molded with fu characters among peony blossoms under a petal-form band of gourds and leaves, the knob finial in form of a squirrel, the base with a four-character Jiajing reign mark.

Provenance: Collection of Lolita Armour Higgason (1896-1976)

Sotheby's, Los Angeles, 24 June 1976, lot 624

Sotheby's, Los Angeles, 10 March 1977, lot 1525

Weisbrod & Dy Ltd, New York, 1977

Christie's, Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 532

Note: Jars of this form are rare, and a product of the Jiajing emperor's fervent interest in immortality and alchemy as a way of ensuring his protection during his life. See a related example of a jar and cover sold at Christie's, New York, March 20, 1997, lot 86, from the Jingguantang collection, and illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 82. Another, without a cover, is in the Huaihaitang collection, and published in the catalog accompanying the exhibition Enlightening Elegance. Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 39, pp. 180-181.

Bonhams. CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART INCLUDING THE FRANCINE AND BERNARD WALD COLLECTION OF FINE SNUFF BOTTLES, PART I. New York, 17 March 2025