A blue and white green-enamelled baluster vase. Second half of the 16th century

A blue and white green-enamelled baluster vase. Second half of the 16th century

Painted with four vertical lotus scrolls outlined in blue and reserved in white against the blue ground, emanating from a border of lotus lappets decorated in green enamel bordered by white in reserve on a blue ground, with a band of upright stiff leaves around the spreading foot decorated in green enamel and blue. 27.5cm (10¾in) high. Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 - Unsold.

Provenance: a Southern French private collection

Note Compare a smaller similarly-shaped blue and white meiping painted with chrysanthemum heads reserved in white on a blue ground, dated circa 1540-1600, illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.233, fig.9:40.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 14 May 2009. New Bond Street www.bonhams.com