A rare blue and white 'peony and wave' vase, Yuan dynasty

A rare blue and white 'peony and wave' vase, Yuan dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's

the finely potted pear shaped body rising from a short spreading foot to a tall trumpet neck with flaring rim, freely painted around the exterior in rich cobalt-blue tones with a leafy undulating peony scroll, all reserved on a dense wave ground, the everted rim with a classic scroll band with edge dressed in brown; 27 cm., 10 1/2 in. Estimate 1,500,000—2,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,700,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: A Japanese Collection.

NOTE: Vases of this type are very rare although a related example, but of slightly larger dimensions and with an additional floral diaper band encircling the foot, in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, is illustrated in Zhu Yuping, Yuan dai qinghua ci, Shanghai, 2000, p. 274, and in Yuandai ciqi, Beijing, 1998, pl. 99A, together with a vase of this form and stylised wave ground with crashing waves above a row of lappets, pl. 99B.

According to Zhu Yuping, vases of this type were made for export to the west of China (see Zhu Yuping, op. cit., p. 274). Compare the decoration of a large blue and white dish similarly composed of a moulded peony scroll against an underglaze blue wave-pattern ground, in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol. 2, London, 1986, col. pl. 561.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Oct 10 11:00 AM, Hong Kong www.sothebys.com