A very rare Longquan Celadon Vase and Cover, meiping, Ming Dynasty, 14th-15th Century

25 mai 2013

A very rare Longquan Celadon Vase and Cover, meiping, Ming Dynasty, 14th-15th Century

A very rare Longquan Celadon Vase and Cover, meiping, Ming Dynasty, 14th-15th Century. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2013

The vase is stoutly potted with a slender waist and slightly spreading foot, swelling up to a full robust shoulder and terminating in a short conical neck. The bell-shaped cover is surmounted by a bud-form finial. Both are covered with a glaze of soft olive-green tone. 17 3/4 in. (45 cm.) high, box. Estimate $1,553,268 - $1,941,585

Provenance: The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3104

Exhibited: Selected Treasures of Chinese Art - Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 30 November 1990 - 10 February 1991

Notes: This magnificent meiping belongs to a small group of fine Longquan celadon wares made specifically for the early Ming Court. According to official records, both Jingdezhen and Longquan kilns were making porcelain vessels by Imperial command in the early Ming period, and Longquan wares were being sent to the court at least until the Chenghua period. Excavations at the Longquan kiln site at Fengdongyan uncovered bowls, dishes, meiping, ewers and yuhuchunping amongst the vessels made for court use. The current meiping is perhaps the rarest and most extravagant examples of the Imperial Longquan wares, not only for its large size, but also for the technical difficulty in firing such an exaggerated shape to perfection. The current meiping's faultless potting and almost blemish-less glaze, however, is as much a testament to the mastery of the Longquan potters as a rare occurance of serendipity. It is not surprising then, that it was said to be Dr. T.T. Tsui's favourite piece in his own collection.

Very few early Ming Longquan meiping of this type survived, and even fewer still retain their covers. The current meiping is most closely comparable to the example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, which retains its cover and is illustrated in Green - Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2009, no. 64, pp. 130-1. The only other known example with its cover is in the Gotoh Museum, Kaminoge, illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World, Vol. 14 - Ming Dynasty, Tokyo, 1976, no. 230, p. 235. The glaze of the Gotoh example is somewhat darker, and its shoulders not so perfectly rounded as the current example. Compare also to the example excavated at the Yongle strata at Fengdongyan, illusrtated inLongquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, 2012, no. 149, p. 119, which is smaller at 39 cm. high.