Lot 1302. A very rare blue and white faceted bottle vase, yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Lot sold USD 40,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2013

The elegantly proportioned vase is of octagonal section, and is decorated with three registers of interlocking panels, those of the middle section enclosing repetitions of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and lingzhi between angular scroll-filled petals below and alternating panels of flaming pearls and spirals above at the base of the waisted neck, which is encircled by a narrow band below four upright petals that rise towards the widely flared rim decorated on the interior with a band of classic scroll.

Provenance: Eric E. Geiling Collection, acquired before 1978.
Sotheby's London, 7 December 1993, lot 223.

Literature: B.von Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesische Keramik auf den Philippinen, Die Sammlung Eric E. Geiling, Köln, 1978, p. 181, no. 150.

Note: Although this appears to be an unrecorded combination of design, elements of the various patterns and designs can be found on other blue and white vases of this form dating to the Yuan dynasty. The unusual flame pearls surrounding the base of the neck can also be seen on a Yuan yuhuchunping sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 515, and on another example sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15 May 1990, lot 19, where another vase, on loan to the Cologne Museum from the Geiling Collection, is cited, which has alternating flame pearls and scroll panels around the neck, as found on the present vase. The panels of flowering branches around the mid-section are found on a number of vases of this date, but more unusual is the spiral border on the lower body. A vase with a similar spiral border, in the Percival David Foundation, is illustrated by M. Medley in Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, p. 46, p. 16a.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. 19 - 20 September 2013. New York, Rockefeller Plaza.