A blue and white pear-shaped  'Immortals' vase. Wanli Mark And Period. Photo Sotheby's

the ovoid body rising to a narrow cylindrical neck and an everted mouth with an upright rim, painted in inky-blue tones of cobalt-blue with Daoist Immortals, each with his respective attribute, a scholar in pursuit of a wayward student chasing after a small animal and two magicians conjuring up wine cups and ewers, all within a natural setting of mountains, hills, plants and rockwork, six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle. Height 6 1/2 in., 16.5 cm. Estimate 80,000-120,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Japanese Private Collection.

LITERATURE: Marchant Ltd, London, Ming Porcelain, 2009, pp. 84-85, no. 36.

NOTE: Vases with this precise subject matter are quite rare. Only one other example of this size, form and design appears to be known and was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 417. A Wanli mark and period bottle vase of similar form but decorated with a dragon on a blue ground is illustrated in Fine Articles of 16th Century Ming Porcelain , Gakken, Japan, 1978, no. 63.

While the depiction of the Eight Immortals presenting gifts to Shoulao was a very popular subject, the more esoteric and mystical aspects of the practice were less frequently represented. The Daoist religion aimed to enhance vitality by living in accord with nature's shifting balance. Legends arose that Daoist masters learned to extend their lives indefinitely, to fly through the clouds and to become invisible. In the late Han period, a fragmentary anonymous work called, A Chart of the Magic Art of Being Invisible was apparently a compendium of the techniques of the Daoist adepts. Many of these beliefs regarding various magical practices originated in literal readings of the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi especially in passages that were probably meant to be read allegorically.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 20 Mar 2012 www..sothebys.com