Lot 945. A rare copper-red decorated pear-shaped ‘peony’ vase, yuhuchunping, Hongwu period (1368-1398); 33.5 cm high, Japanese fitted box. Price realised HKD$3,528,000 (Estimate: HK$3,500,000 - 5,000,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2025.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection

Note: The vase is decorated in a greyish tone of copper red, finely potted with a pear-shaped body supported on a short foot rising to a slender neck gently tapering to an everted rim. The body is painted with an undulating scroll bearing peony blossoms and leaves, all between a band of pendent trefoils around the shoulder and upright petal lappets around the base. The neck is further decorated with plantain leaves above a key-fret band.

The Hongwu period provides a fascinating bridge between the decorative styles of the Yuan and those of the Yongle reign. The present vase reflects an interesting stage of transition, positioned between the rather light version of the shape seen in the Yuan dynasty, and the heavier ones of the Yongle reign with shorter neck and lower globular body.
 

Compare to a Hongwu example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, no.197(fig. 1.); and an early Ming dynasty one housed in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, and recorded in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no.626; and four similar examples, all decorated with peony scrolls, though the shoulders vary slightly, published in Mayuyama: Seventy Years, part one, Tokyo, 1976, p.241, no.721-724; and one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 2908 (fig. 2.). (https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5800762?ldp_breadcrumb=back)

fig. 1. Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

fig. 2. A fine and extremely rare copper-red decorated pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, Hongwu period (1368-1398); 32 cm high. Sold for HKD 18,040,000 at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 2908. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014.

Similar peony decorations can be seen on other forms of Hongwu vessels. Compare with a Hongwu ewer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: gu 00143188; and two copper-red decorated bowls excavated from Jingdezhen, illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 9 and no.10.