A Transitional Wucai, oviform jar and cover, 17th century

A Transitional Wucai, oviform jar and cover, 17th century

Decorated with a bold design of ethereal Manchu/Chinese figures and female musicians. 41cm (16in) high. (2). Sold for £12,000.

Footnote: The combination here of underglaze blue and coloured enamels seems to have been established by 1646. Cf. a similar vase bearing the cyclical date, corresponding to that year, illustrated in Soame Jenyns 'Later Chinese Porcelain'/plate VIII. For another group of female musicians, albeit on famille verte from The Kangxi era, see the Shanghai Museum's vase exhibited at the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, 2007. The Shanghai example's lady musicians are said to be playing at a Lotus gathering hosted by the King of Wu.

Bonhams. Chinese & other Asian Works of Art, 4 Mar 2009. Knightsbridge www.bonhams.com (Copyright © 2002-2009 Bonhams 1793 Ltd)