Lot 428. A rare blue-glazed meiping, early Ming dynasty (1368-1644); h. 34.8 cm, 13 3/4  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000. Lot Sold 250,000 HKD (31,938 USD). © Sotheby's.

sturdily potted with full rounded shoulders rising at a gently flaring angle from the base and sweeping to a short waisted neck with a lipped rim, the exterior applied evenly with an intense cobalt-blue glaze, the base left unglazed to reveal scattered iron spots, Japanese wood box.

Note: Covered overall in a vibrant cobalt blue, this piece belongs to a rare group of meiping that illustrate one of the first attempts at creating a monochrome blue glaze in the Ming dynasty. Vessels of this type were expensive to produce as they required copious amounts of cobalt, a rare and expensive commodity that needed to be imported from Iran. Each vase was dipped, possibly more than once, into a glaze mix containing cobalt oxide in order to achieve the distinctive dark blue tone seen on the present piece.