Lot 3815. A rare early Ming Longquan celadon meiping, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price Realized HKD 620,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The stoutly potted body tapering to a spreading foot with square-cut rim and the rounded shoulder rising to a short conical neck, covered overall with a lightly crackled glaze of soft olive-green tone, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: Undecorated Longquan meiping dating to the early Ming dynasty are rare. An example of identical size to the present vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei was included in the exhibition Green-Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, pp. 132-133, no. 65. A meiping and cover dated to the Yuan or early Ming dynasty is illustrated in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, no. 125. Another meiping and cover formerly in the The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3104. An example in the Tokyo National Museum is published in Chinese Ceramics, Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1965, p. 95, no. 387. Another similar example was sold at Sotheby's London, 10 November 2004, lot 561. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall