Rare boite couverte en porcelaine wucai. Chine, Dynastie Ming, marque à six caractères et époque Wanli (1573-1619). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2012

De forme circulaire, le couvercle est orné d'oiseaux perchés sur un saule. Des papillons volent au-dessus d'arbustes fleuris. Les côtés sont décorés de branchages de litchis, pêches, vigne et fleurs. Les bordures sont rehaussées de frises de motifs géométriques. La base porte une marque à six caractères de l'Empereur Wanli en bleu sous couverte. Diamètre: 24,5 cm. (9 5/8 in.). Estimate €20,000 - €30,000. Price Realized €181,000

Provenance: Private collection, France, since the early 20th century

A RARE WUCAI CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER. CHINA, MING DYNASTY, WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619) I

Notes: This is a rare box, since the majority of wucai circular boxes have pierced lids. The present sensitive design with a pair of birds and butterflies in the peaceful ambiance of a garden is also quite rare and unusual. More commonly, such boxes are decorated with figural designs such as scholars or Daoist fairies in a landscape.

See a Wanli wucai box of this design, in the Manchester City Art Galleries, illustrated in C.M. Kauffmann, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Manchester City Art Galleries, in Oriental Art, New Series, vol.V, no.3, Autumn 1959, pp.120-22, pl.3.

The decorative designs on wucai and blue and white porcelains of similar form were often closely related. An example of this is the blue and white box in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze blue and red, Hong Kong, Woods, 1987, no. 162.

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 19 December 2012, Paris