Lot 2809. A blue and white drum-form 'dragon' jar, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1620); 14 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Price realised HKD 756,000 (Estimate HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, by repute
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2016, lot 647.

Note: Compare a closely related ‘Dragon’ blue and white drum-form vessel of very similar design, from the collection of the renowned Hong Kong collector Mr C. P. Lin, included as a chess jar in the exhibition Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration: Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, no. 90.
A chess set including a pair of ceramic covered boxes in drum form with chess pieces inside, excavated from the tomb of Zhu Tan (1370-90), the Ming Prince Huang of Lu, are illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Ming: 50 Years that Changed China, the British Museum, London, 2014, fig. 168.

Christie's. IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 30.11.2023