A large Cloisonné Enamel and Gilt-Bronze Vase and Cover, Hu. Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period.

A large Cloisonné Enamel and Gilt-Bronze Vase and Cover, Hu. Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period. photo courtesy Sotheby's

of archaic bronze form, the pear-shaped body rising from a high splayed foot to a tall waisted neck, brightly decorated around the exterior with three broad leafy scrolling lotus bands reserved on a turquoise ground and divided by narrow floral scroll bands within raised gilt lines, the shoulder set with three recumbent gilt-bronze rams and the neck and foot with a row of gilt-bronze whorl bosses, the stepped domed cover surmounted by three archaistic gilt-bronze dragon flange; 67 cm., 26 3/8 in. Estimate 3,500,000—4,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 4,340,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's London, 12^th November 1974, lot 164.
A.J. Speelman and Son, London, November 2002.

NOTE: This impressive vase takes its form from archaic ritual bronze hu vessels of the Zhou and Han dynasties. Although the overall shape and composition of the archaic model is retained, the craftsmen have created a piece in contemporary taste with the incorporation of a lotus scroll decoration and bronze fixtures. The present piece is rare for its large size and its ram fixtures; see a related example of slightly smaller proportions, but lacking both the bosses around the foot and rams encircling the body, and with archaistic dragon finials on the cover, sold in our London rooms, 13^th July 2005, lot 212. A slightly larger pair of similarly decorated vases of this form, but lacking covers and with six flower-head bosses on top of the neck, was sold in these rooms, 23^rd October 2005, lot 429.

It is unusual to find cloisonné enamel vessels adorned on the body with animals modelled in the round; for a zun vase with three gilt-bronze ram heads placed around the base of the neck, with a Jingtai reign mark, see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pl. 12.

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