Lot 1180. A rare small blue and white hexagonal jar, Early Ming dynasty, 15th century, 4 ½ in. (11.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. Price realised USD 75,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The small hexagonal jar is decorated in deep cobalt blue with 'heaped and piled effect' with a continuous, leafy scroll bearing different types of chrysanthemums between a band of petals above the foot and aruyi band on the shoulder. 

Note: This very rare hexagonal jar belongs to a group of small blue and white jars produced during the early Ming period, all dated to the early 15th century. All are decorated in a rich underglaze blue with 'heaped and piled' effect with either flowers or a combination of flowers and fruiting branches. Not only the decoration, but the shapes also vary. A jar of squat, rounded shape from the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, now in the British Museum, dated to the Yongle period (1403-1425), is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 111, no. 3:23. The jar is decorated around the sides with a continuous scene of assorted plants growing from a grassy ground. A melon-shaped jar with tapering body decorated on each of the eight lobes with a different flower or fruiting branches, illustrated by W. B. Honey in The Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries of the Far East, London, 1945, pl. 87A, which was also included in the O.C.S Exhibitions of Ming Blue and White Porcelain, in 1946, no. 5 and in 1953, no. 47, and in the Marco Polo Seventh Centenary Exhibition, Venice, 1954, no. 628, was sold at Sotheby's London, 11 July 1978, lot 188, where it was dated early 15th century. Another jar, of tapering square shape, dated Yongle-Xuande period, decorated with a different fruiting branch on each facet - peach, persimmon, lychee and pomegranate - was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 275. This jar is now in the Songzhutang Collection of Imperial Chinese Ceramics and illustrated in Encompassing Precious Beauty, 2016, no. 4, where it is dated to the Yongle period. The present jar appears to be the only published example on which the body is encircled by a band of flower scroll.

Porcelain jar and cover painted in underglaze blue, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424). Height: 14 cm (with lid), Width: 12.5 cm. Donated by Mrs Ivy Clark (née Sanders), 1972,0619.1.a © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

 An unusual blue and white square jar, Ming dynasty, Yongle-Xuande period. Sold for 885,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 275, now in the Songzhutang Collection of Imperial Chinese Ceramics. Photo: Sotheby's 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York