Agustín Esteve [1753–post. 1820], Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes, 1797. Oil on canvas, 110.5 x 86 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. Adquirido con fondos de la Donación Óscar Alzaga Villaamil

MADRID.- The recent addition to the Museum’s collection of Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes by Augustín Esteve y Marqués, acquired with funds from the Óscar Alzaga Villaamil donation, will allow for greater knowledge of this interesting painter who was in his day considered the finest court portraitist after Francisco de Goya. This work completes the Alzaga donation, which was accepted last March and comprises six important paintings plus funding for the acquisition of a seventh. 

For the first time the exhibition brings together Esteve’s portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna’s children, including outstanding works loaned by the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, the Duque del Infantado collection and the Masaveu and Martínez Lanzas-de las Heras collections, with the aim of providing a context for the portrait of Manuela Isidra. Furthermore, through the organisation of this exhibition the Prado is the first museum to focus on Esteve with the aim of rescuing him from the secondary role unjustifiably assigned to him by art history. 

In addition, Esteve’s works are accompanied by various portraits of the Duke and Duchess and their children by other artists, including the miniaturist Guillermo Ducker (doc. between 1795 and 1830) and Francisco de Goya, whose outstanding portraits of the family dating from the same period demonstrate the influence of his work on Esteve’s. The treatment of light and the skilful depiction of the transparent materials of the sitters’ clothes are the focus of attention of this exhibition, revealing Esteve and Goya’s ability to meet the difficult artistic challenge of representing the colour white. 

The number of portraits housed in the Museo del Prado of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna and their children, from their infancy to adulthood, means that the Museum offers the best representation of this prominent family. 

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828), The Duke and Duchess of Osuna and their Children, 1787 - 1788. Oil on unlined canvas, 225 x 174 cm. Museo Nacional del Prado.

 Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes Agustin Esteve (1753 – after 1820) 1797 
The portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón (1794-1838), future Duchess of Abrantes, has been acquired for the Museo del Prado’s collection with funds from the Óscar Alzaga Villaamil donation. Painted in 1797 by Agustín Esteve y Marqués (1753 - after 1820), it is undoubtedly the best known work by the artist due to its skilful technique, refined elegance and evident charm. Its presence in the Museum will firstly allow for greater knowledge of this interesting painter, considered in his day the finest court portraitist after Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) and on occasions confused with him. Secondly, Esteve’s portrait clearly relates to 17th-century Spanish painting, particularly works by Velázquez and Murillo, and adds a new dimension to the Prado’s 18th-century collections. Esteve had previously worked for the 9th Duke of Osuna and his wife but with this portrait he became a type of official painter to the family, sharing this role for almost four decades with Goya, whose influence would be fundamental for his approach to painting. 

The marriage of Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón (1755-1807), future 9th Duke of Osuna, to his cousin María Josefa de la Soledad Alonso Pimentel (1752-1834), Duchess of Benavente, produced a union between two of the oldest, largest and wealthiest noble houses in Spain and gave rise to a family unparalleled at the time in terms of social prestige and intellectual and artistic interests. The Duchess, known for her wit, decided character and distinction, was considered by contemporaries to be the true head and heart of the Osunas given the Duke’s frequent lengthy absences on military campaigns. A mother at a late age, proud of her five children and accustomed to luxury and ostentation, the Duchess commissioned successive portraits of them in order to record their growth, progress and abilities, largely deriving from the privileged and innovative education they received and a reflection of the Enlightenment ideal of producing individuals of use to their country. The result was a true iconographic gallery of the family, in which Goya and Esteve played a fundamental role. 

The Alzaga donation The acquisition of Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes, which is being presented today, completes the Alzaga donation and joins the six paintings that entered the Museum’s collection last March through that donation. They encompass a broad chronological span from the late 16th to the mid-19th century, painted by artists from Italy (Jacopo Ligozzi), Spain (Sánchez Cotán, Herrera the Elder, Antonio del Castillo, Agustin Esteve and Eugenio Lucas Velázquez) and Bohemia (Anton Raphael Mengs).

Agustín Esteve [1753–post. 1820],  Joaquina Téllez-Girón, daugther of the 9th Duke and Duchess of Osuna, 1798. Oil on canvas, 190 x 116 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

Agustín Esteve [1753–post. 1820], Josefa Manuela Téllez-Girón, future Marchioness of Camarasa, 1798. Oil on canvas, 194 x 117 cm. Seville, Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, Casa de Pilatos.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828), The Marchioness of Santa Cruz, 1805. Oil on unlined canvas, 124.7 x 207.7 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

Agustín Esteve [1753–post. 1820], La duquesa de Osuna como Dama de la Orden de Damas Nobles de la Reina María Luisa, 1796 - 1797. Oil on canvas, 198 x 145,5 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

Guillermo Decker, Retrato de Doña Joaquina Téllez Girón, Marquesa de Santa Cruz, 1813. Gouache on ivory, 7,8 x 6,5 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. 

Guillermo Decker, Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón y Pacheco, IX duque de Osuna, ca. 1805. Gouache on ivory. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.  

Lot 1174. A molded shufu shallow bowl, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), 4 ¾ in. (12 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl with deep, slightly flared sides is raised on a small foot and molded on the bottom of the interior with lotus scroll below further lotus scroll and a double line border, interrupted by two characters,shu and fu, on opposite sides. The bowl is covered inside and out with a satiny glaze of pale aqua tone, Japanese wood box.

Note: The term shufu usually refers to a type of glaze which is slightly more opaque than that of a qingbai glaze and is silky in texture, rather than glassy. The term derives from the characters shu and fu executed in low relief under the glaze found on some wares with this glaze, such as the present bowl. It is believed that wares with this mark were intended for use by a Yuan dynasty government department, the Shumiyuan, which is equated with a Privy Council.

Compare the similarly decorated Shufu bowl of this shape, also dated Yuan dynasty, illustrated in Porcelain Collected by Anhui Province Museum, Beijing, 2002, p. 113, pl. 95.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1171. A pair of qingbai vases, meiping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), 11 ¾ in. (29.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Each vase is covered overall with a bluish-white glaze that continues over the rim and ends above the foot.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1179. A very rare blue and white pear-shaped bottle vase, yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), 11 ¼ in. (28.6 cm.) high. Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The elegantly proportioned vase is finely painted in shades of underglaze blue with a fruiting gourd vine beneath a cluster of leafy grapes, and with one cloud cluster on the upper neck and two on the interior of the mouth, purple silk stand.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 15 April 1980, lot 231.
Mayuyama & Co., Tokyo.

The property of Gotō Shinshudō

Gotō Shinshudō began his illustrious career in 1951 when he joined the legendary frm Mayuyama and Co., and was appointed to the board in 1976. He enjoyed a long tenure at the firm, and started his own gallery in Kyobashi, Tokyo in 1984, specializing in Chinese, Korean and Japanese ceramics, as well as metalwork and stone sculptures. Building on the reputation he earned at Mayuyama and Co., his own business achieved success, dealing with some of the world’s elite private collectors and important institutions such as the Toguri Museum of Art.

Literature: Sekai toji Zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1955, p. 212, no. 210 (the image shown in the publication is in mirror image). 

Abundant Descendants – A Rare Yuan Dynasty Pear-shaped Vase
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art

This exceptionally rare blue and white vase, which was published in 1981 by Tsugio Mikami in Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 13, Liao, Chin and Yüan Dynasties, pl. 210, dates to the Yuan dynasty and belongs to the finest group of pear-shaped vases, yuhuchunping, from this period. It is finely-potted, has a sinuous S-shaped profile, and a slender neck with widely flaring trumpet mouth, which perfectly balances the lower part of the body. This group may be distinguished from the somewhat more heavily-potted vases of this form, including those which have octagonal bodies. Probably because of their more delicate potting, fewer of these vases appear to have survived than those from the other groups. However, the fine quality of their potting and finishing render this group more suitable for decoration without, or with minimal, minor bands, since there was no need to break up the design in order to mask infelicities of form. The high regard in which these more delicate pear-shaped vases were regarded is reflected in the fact that one of them, unearthed from a Yuan dynasty cellar at Gao’an, Jiangxi province in 1980, was white-glazed and then had dragons in gold foil applied to the surface (illustrated in The Porcelain from the Cellar of the Yuan Dynasty in Gao’an 高安元代窖藏瓷器, Beijing, 2006, p. 89). Nevertheless, some of the fine pear-shaped vase group were decorated with banded decoration, such as the pear-shaped vase excavated in 1985 from a Yuan dynasty tomb in Qingzhou, Shandong province (illustrated Blue and White of the Yuan 元青花, Beijing, 2009, pp. 26-7), which has a three-clawed dragon in its main decorative band, or the vase in the collection of the Capital Museum, Beijing, which has ducks on a lotus pond in its main decorative band (illustrated by Zhu Yuping 朱裕平 in Yuandai qinghuaci 元代青花瓷, Shanghai, 2000, p. 126, no. 5-14) but this was a choice by the decorators of these vases, rather than a necessity.

When these fine pear-shaped vases had single theme decoration, it usually took one of two forms. Either the vessels were decorated with narrative scenes from contemporary drama, or they bore well-painted scrolling decoration. Amongst those bearing narrative scenes is the vase, which was excavated in 1956 in Taoyuan county, Changde city, Hunan province, with a scene with Meng Tian (蒙恬 d. 210 BC), who was a general of the Qin dynasty and was honoured for his campaigns against the Xiongnu (illustrated in Blue and White of the Yuan, op. cit., p. 31), and the vase excavated in 1986 from a Yuan dynasty tomb at East Wayao village, Beimen, Shangrao, Jiangxi province depicting Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤 AD 1017–1073), the Neo-Confucian philosopher and cosmologist, admiring the lotuses which he commemorated in his famous prose work Ai lian shuo (愛蓮說 ‘On Love of the lotus’) (illustrated in Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain 幽藍神採,元代青花瓷器特集, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 196-7, no. 67). In addition, a small number of these trumpet-mouthed Yuan dynasty pear-shaped vases bear all-over designs of dragons, such as the small vase from the Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics illustrated by Zhu Yuping in Yuandai qinghuaci, op. cit., p. 87, no. 3-45, and the vase depicting a dragon five-clawed dragon amongst clouds in the collection of the Henan Provincial Museum, illustrated in the same volume, p. 101, no. 4-15. 

However, Yuan dynasty blue and white pear-shaped vases with all-over scrolling plant designs, like that on the current vase, are particularly rare. One such vase with a design of white peony scrolls against a background of formal, concentric arc, waves is in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City (illustrated by Zhu Yuping in Yuandai qinghuaci, op. cit., p. 274, no. 10-8). A vase in the collection of the British Museum, decorated with a chrysanthemum scroll is illustrated in Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit., pp. 88-9, no. 15. A further pear-shaped vase now in Shanghai is decorated all-over with a dense peony scroll (illustrated by Xu Ming 許明 in Tu’erqi, yi lang guan cang Yuan qinghua kao cha qin li ji 土耳其, 伊朗館藏 元青花 考察 親歷 記, Shanghai, 2012, p. 273). No Yuan dynasty blue and white pear-shaped vase decorated solely with fruiting scrolls - either grape vines or melon plants - other than the current example, appears to have been published. 

A Yuan dynasty blue and white pear-shaped vase with banded decoration, but with the main decorative band containing an unusual design of grape vines was found in Indonesia in the 1960s and is now in the collection of the British Museum (illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall in Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, P. 72, no. 1.28). It is, however, very rare to find grapes or melons appearing alone in the decoration of Yuan dynasty blue and white vessels. The two plants frequently occur in the decoration of large Yuan dynasty dishes, but as part of an ensemble of rocks and plants, suggestive of a garden or landscape but rarely composed in a naturalistic manner, or with realistic proportions. Such ensembles occur on both dishes with bracket lobed rims and those with straight rims. Dishes with this type of design and with bracket lobed rims include those in the Shanghai Museum (illustrated in Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit., pp. 112-13, no. 27), and the British Museum (illustrated in Tu’erqi, yi lang guan cang Yuan qinghua kao cha qin li ji, op. cit., p. 229). Dishes of this type with straight rims include those in the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul (illustrated in the same volume, p. 20), and two dishes from the Ardebil Shrine (illustrated in the same volume, pp. 168 and 169). The ensemble including grape vines and melon plantss also appears on a small number of Yuan dynasty blue and white large dishes with bracket lobed rims, which include birds in the central roundel. These include a dish in the collection of the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul, which depicts two long-tailed birds, one of which is perched on a balustrade (illustrated by Zhu Yuping, op. cit., p. 178-9, no. 7-7), and the dish which includes a flying phoenix from the collection of the Ardebil Shrine, now in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran (illustrated in Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit.,pp.138-9, no. 39). This latter dish bears the vaqfnameh of Shah ‘Abbas (r. 1588-1629) incised under the rim.

Yuhuchun bottle with underglaze blue decoration, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).Porcelain, Height: 29 cm. Found in Indonesia in the 1960s. Donated by Sir John M Addis, 1975; 1975,1028.3 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Both grape vines and melon plants can also be seen on rare large blue and white octagonal double gourd vases in the Yuan period. They tend to appear within the cartouches on the lower part of these vases. Two such double gourd vases are in the collection of the Topkapi Saray, Istanbul – one including birds and insects, and the other including frog, lizard and insects illustrated by J. Ayers and R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol. II, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, London, 1986, pp. 498-500, nos. 576 and 577, respectively. Vines and melons also appear in a cartouche on a meiping in the Topkapi Saray (illustrated ibid., p. 497, no. 575), while grape vines and melons also appear, alongside rocks and bamboo on the interior of a bowl in the same collection (illustrated ibid., p. 497, no. 573).

It is significant that these two fruit – grapes and melons – were selected from amongst the various plants which were included in the nature-based ensembles on Yuan dynasty blue and white vessels to appear on the current vase, for it was these two fruits which also went on to appear individually in the central roundels of fine imperial blue and white dishes in the early 15th century, as the interest in fruit as a subject for decoration increased in the Yongle reign. A large dish decorated with grapes on a vine was excavated from the Yongle stratum at the imperial kilns at Zhushan Jingdezhen in 1994 (illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, pp. 166-7, no. 51), while a dish decorated with a melon plant was also excavated at Zhushan in 1994 (illustrated ibid. pp. 156-7, no. 46). Both melons on the vine and grapes on the vine were regarded a symbolic of ceaseless generations of sons and grandsons. In the case of the grapes this was in part because they grow in clusters of many fruit, and in the case of melons it was because they contain many seeds. In addition, the vines and tendrils of these plants – mandai (蔓帶) in Chinese – suggest the phrase wandai (萬代, 'ten thousand generations'). 

In the context of the current vase it is also interesting to note that grapes are not indigenous to China, but are among the plants that are recorded as having been brought to China from Central Asia by Zhang Qian, a returning envoy of Emperor Wudi in 128 BC, and many different varieties of grape were grown in China by the early 15th century. Records show that both green and black grapes were grown by the beginning of the 6th century AD, and Song dynasty texts mention a seedless variety. An extensive illustrated entry on grapes (Chineseputao 葡萄) is included in volume (juan) 23 of the Chongxiu Zhenghe Jingshi Zhenglei Beiying Bencao (Classified and Consolidated Armamentarium Pharmacopoeia of the Zhenghe Reign (AD 1111-1117). The grapes were eaten fresh, as well as dried in the form of raisins, but do not seem to have been widely used to make wine until the Tang dynasty. Grapes rarely appeared as decoration on Chinese art objects of the early period, with the exception of those depicted in relief on pilgrim flasks of the period Six Dynasties-Sui dynasty (AD 6th-7th century), which were influenced by the arts of Central and Western Asia. Grapes became a more popular motif in the Tang dynasty, when, again under western influences, they regularly appeared, for example, as part of the ubiquitous ‘lion and grape’ motif on bronze mirrors. However, grapes do not seem to appear as decorative motifs on painted ceramics until the Yuan dynasty.  

The unusual shape of the leaves of the grape vines on the current vase perhaps suggest another link with lands to the west of China’s borders. They are somewhat reminiscent of the palmette and leaf motifs depicted on early Near Eastern ceramics, including those decorated with cobalt blue, especially those from the Samarra area in Iraq in the 9th century (see for example the dish illustrated by D. Talbot Rice in Islamic Art, London, 1977 reprint, p. 39). Inspiration from the West in the decoration on Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelains is not as surprising as it might initially seem, since it is well-documented that many craftsmen from the Islamic West were employed at the Jingdezhen kilns during the Yuan dynasty (see Liu Xinyuan, ‘Yuan Dynasty Official Wares from Jingdezhen’, The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Rosemary Scott (ed.), Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, No. 16, London, 1993, p. 36 and Xu Youren (許有壬), Zhizheng Ji (至正集 Collection from the reign of Zhizheng), juan 9). 

This rare vase, therefore, provides references to the sources of inspiration at the Yuan dynasty kilns, as well as presaging the tastes of the Chinese court in the early 15th century. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Yuhuchun bottle with underglaze blue decoration, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Porcelain, Height: 29 cm. Found in Indonesia in the 1960s. Donated by Sir John M Addis, 1975; 1975,1028.3 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

This pear-shaped yuhuchun bottle, which has a round body and trumpeting mouth with everted rim, stands on a splayed foot. It is painted in horizontal bands with grapes on a scrolling vine around the body and below with a band of half-cash diaper and lotus-petal lappets above the foot ring. Around the shoulder is a band of panels containing flowers and roundel with classic scroll work below, diaper above and feathery leaves around the neck. The base and inside the foot are glazed. 

Harrison-Hall 2001:
Grapes, it is generally accepted, were first grown in China in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 9). Seeds were introduced via central Asia where grape wine was then made in, for example, Parthia and Ferghana. The sweet taste of grapes made them popular in the northern areas of China where they grew and by the Tang (AD 618-906) grape wine was widely drunk. Li Shizhen, the Ming pharmacologist, recommended grape wine for strengthening the kidneys, preserving a youthful appearance and resisting the cold. Grapes are a symbol of abundance. Although the grape vine design is often found on large serving dishes, it appears rarely on surviving yuhuchun bottles of the Yuan era. A shard from a dish showing a deer eating grapes was excavated at a kiln site in Hutian from a Yuan context where this bottle was probably made.

AUCKLAND.- The art and lives of a Florentine dynasty is being revealed in Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s new exhibition The Corsini Collection: A Window on Renaissance Florence which opened on Saturday 2 September 2017. 

Drawn from the extensive private art collection of the eminent Corsini family in Florence, Italy, the exhibition features Renaissance and Baroque painting by artists such as Botticelli, Caravaggio, Andrea del Sarto and Pontormo. 

It is the first time this collection has toured outside Italy and the first time a Florentine private collection is being displayed in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Corsini Collection provides a window onto the Corsini family’s continuing passion for art and their ongoing loyalty to the city of Florence, which have prevailed through the devastation of World War II and the inescapable forces of nature during the flood in Florence in 1966.  

Matteo Rosselli, The Triumph of David, 1610, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Auckland Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says it is a privilege to exhibit this exceptional collection in New Zealand. 

‘Our audiences will have the opportunity to experience the fascinating history of an extraordinary family, who turned their love and passion for art into a true vocation, gathering artworks that span from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries,’ she says. 

Preserved over time, these masterpieces, as well as fascinating historical objects, demonstrate the period’s celebration of the fine and decorative arts in an immersive Gallery experience.  

The story of Florence is also being explored throughout the exhibition. Often called the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence saw a growth of independence in its political, economic and religious spheres. These developments arose from families, such as the Corsini, who strove to influence the way their city held its place within broader Italian politics. 

Portraits, landscape, mythological and religious paintings, as well as sculpture, works on paper, furniture, costumes, embroidery, games, kitchen equipment and a lavish dining room set for six, portray the life of this family at the Corsini Palazzo and their patronage of the arts.  

Florentine Painter after Francesco Rosselli, The Execution of Savonarola and Two Companions at Piazza della Signoria 16th–17th century, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

The exhibition has been curated by Dr Ludovica Sebregondi with Auckland Art Gallery’s Mary Kisler, Senior Curator, Mackelvie Collection, International Art. 

Mary Kisler, who spent time in Italy researching the collection, says the exhibition is a perfect window on the world of Florence, both historically and today. 

‘The Corsini Collection has many insights and stories to share about Florence. It tells of a great Italian family, of politics, of the church, of war and wealth and, of course, it tells the story of their art.’  

Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Glorification of the Corsini Family: Sketch for the Ceiling Fresco of the Presentation Room of the Palazzo, 1694–95, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

This exhibition is organised by the Galleria Corsini, Florence; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; and MondoMostre, Rome, with the support of the Italian Embassy, the Italian Cultural Institute, Sydney and Dante Alighieri, Auckland. 

The Corsini Collection: A Window on Renaissance Florence is accompanied by a visitor programme and special events that celebrates Italian culture in the heart of Auckland city. 

The exhibition is exclusive to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in New Zealand. It later travels to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, where it will be presented from February 2018.

Sandro Botticelli and Workshop, Madonna and Child with Six Angels, c. 1500, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, circa 1597, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Anthony van Dyck, Prometheus and the Eagle, early 17th century, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Pietro Benvenuti, Portrait of Antonietta Waldstetten, 1812, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Pietro Benvenuti, Portrait of Tommaso Corsini, 1812, Galleria Corsini, Florence.

Lot 1175. A Longquan celadon tripod censer, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), 4 ¾ in. (12.1 cm.) wide across the handles. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The compressed globular body is raised on three short feet, and is lightly carved on the exterior with a band of lotus scroll below two rope-twist handles. The censer is covered overall with a glaze of sea-green color, Japanese silver openwork cover.

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, London, 2009.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1176. A carved Longquan celadon baluster vase, Early Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century, 15 7/8 in. (40.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The tall, heavily potted, slender vase is carved with leafy chrysanthemum scroll, beneath a band of sawtooth design on the canted shoulder, and a line border around the short, straight neck. The whole is covered in a glaze of rich olive-green color suffused with crackle.

Provenance: Collection of Ambassador Ti-Tsun Li (1901-1981), and thence by descent to the present owner.

Note: Compare the carved Longquan vase of similar, but slightly broader form and of smaller size (32.9 cm.), in a museum in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, illustrated in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 259, no. 244.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1177. A rare carved Longquan celadon deep bowl, Ming dynasty, early 15th century, 8 ¾ in. (22.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The heavily potted bowl is densely carved on the interior with flowers including peony borne on a continuous stem. The exterior is similarly carved with further floral sprays below a band of classic scroll, all under a glaze of olive-green color, Japanese wood box, two-part lacquer cover.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1178. A tianbaianhua-decorated bowl, Yongle period (1403-1425), 8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl is incised on the exterior with a continuous floral leafy scroll beneath a band of key fret at the rim, and on the interior with floral sprays in the central medallion surrounded by radiating vertical ribs in well, all under a clear 'sweet-white' glaze which also covers the base.

Note: The distinctive tianbai 'sweet white' glaze seen on the present bowl appears to have first been used on fine imperial porcelains of the Yongle reign. Indeed, it is porcelains with this type of glaze that predominate among the finds from the early Yongle stratum at Jingdezhen. The 'sweet white' glaze is quite different from earlier white glazes as it contains a mass of very tiny bubbles. These have two main effects. Firstly, some of them burst on the surface of the glaze leaving minute holes, like pin-pricks, which give the glaze a slight 'orange-peel' effect, and makes it appear glossy, rather than glassy. Secondly the tiny bubbles held within the glaze refract and scatter the light, giving the glaze a soft, lustrous, appearance that has been likened to white jade. The body of these tianbai porcelains was also very fine and white, and could be fired at a high temperature which enhanced its translucency. Such porcelains seem to have especially appealed to the Emperor Yongle, who was known for his love of white, and who on one occasion rejected most of the gifts offered to him but retained only those items made of white jade.

The decoration, known as anhua (‘secret decoration’), which was also an innovation of the Yongle period, was achieved by incising the design with a very fine point into the body, beneath the glaze. Such decoration is almost invisible from a distance, but was intended to be appreciated only by those fortunate enough to examine the piece at close quarters. 

A very similar Yongle tianbai bowl, from the Falk Collection, was sold at Christie's New York, 16 October 2001, lot 132.

A Fine Early Ming White-Glazed Bowl with Incised and Anhua Decoration, Lianci, Yongle period (1403-1425), 8 1/4in. (21cm.) diam, from the Falk Collection no. 249. Sold for USD 110,500 at Christie's New York, 16 October 2001, lot 132. © Christie's Images Ltd 2001

An Early Ming White-Glazed Anhua-decorated Bowl, Lianzi wan, Yongle period (1403-1425), 8 in. (20.4 cm.) diam. Sold for USD 158,500 at Christie's New York, 13 - 14 September 2012, lot 1416. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

A fine large early Ming anhua-decorated white-glazed bowl, lianziwan, Yongle period (1403-1425), from the Carl Kempe Collection, 8 1/8 in. (20.7 cm.) diam. Sold for HKD 4,840,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3122. © Christie's Images Ltd 2015

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Hexagonal porcelain jar with underglaze blue decoration, Ming dynasty, probably Jiajing period (1522-1566). Height: 15.3 cm. 1931,0713.1 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

This 'min yao' hexagonal jar has a short six-sided neck and foot. Lotus ponds alternately with cranes and mandarin ducks are bordered with lappets below and 'ruyi' heads above, and there is a key-fret design around the neck. Four characters on the base in a double square read 'Wan fu you tong' [May ten thousand blessings gather together]. 

Harrison-Hall 2001:
This type of jar would originally have had a domed hexagonal overhanging cover with a knob finial. A hexagonal jar and cover of identical shape and with the same blue-and-white decoration, and with an apocryphal Xuande reign mark in a double square on the base, was excavated at Taizhou, Jiangsu, from the tomb of Liu Xiang (1495-1541) and of his wife Mme Qiu (1496-1558). The jar was one of only two ceramics included in the burial which otherwise is renowned for its textiles, including male and female clothing.

Lot 1180. A rare small blue and white hexagonal jar, Early Ming dynasty, 15th century, 4 ½ in. (11.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The small hexagonal jar is decorated in deep cobalt blue with 'heaped and piled effect' with a continuous, leafy scroll bearing different types of chrysanthemums between a band of petals above the foot and aruyi band on the shoulder. 

Note: This very rare hexagonal jar belongs to a group of small blue and white jars produced during the early Ming period, all dated to the early 15th century. All are decorated in a rich underglaze blue with 'heaped and piled' effect with either flowers or a combination of flowers and fruiting branches. Not only the decoration, but the shapes also vary. A jar of squat, rounded shape from the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, now in the British Museum, dated to the Yongle period (1403-1425), is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 111, no. 3:23. The jar is decorated around the sides with a continuous scene of assorted plants growing from a grassy ground. A melon-shaped jar with tapering body decorated on each of the eight lobes with a different flower or fruiting branches, illustrated by W. B. Honey in The Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries of the Far East, London, 1945, pl. 87A, which was also included in the O.C.S Exhibitions of Ming Blue and White Porcelain, in 1946, no. 5 and in 1953, no. 47, and in the Marco Polo Seventh Centenary Exhibition, Venice, 1954, no. 628, was sold at Sotheby's London, 11 July 1978, lot 188, where it was dated early 15th century. Another jar, of tapering square shape, dated Yongle-Xuande period, decorated with a different fruiting branch on each facet - peach, persimmon, lychee and pomegranate - was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 275. This jar is now in the Songzhutang Collection of Imperial Chinese Ceramics and illustrated in Encompassing Precious Beauty, 2016, no. 4, where it is dated to the Yongle period. The present jar appears to be the only published example on which the body is encircled by a band of flower scroll.

Porcelain jar and cover painted in underglaze blue, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424). Height: 14 cm (with lid), Width: 12.5 cm. Donated by Mrs Ivy Clark (née Sanders), 1972,0619.1.a © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

 An unusual blue and white square jar, Ming dynasty, Yongle-Xuande period. Sold for 885,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 275, now in the Songzhutang Collection of Imperial Chinese Ceramics. Photo: Sotheby's

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Porcelain jar and cover painted in underglaze blue, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424). Height: 14 cm (with lid), Width: 12.5 cm. Donated by Mrs Ivy Clark (née Sanders), 1972,0619.1.a © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

This ovoid jar has a wide base with a narrow foot ring, short neck with a broad mouth and a domed cover with a lotus-bud finial. It is exquisitely painted with a continuous scene of assorted flowering plants growing from a sketchily delineated ground, including Chinese pinks, chrysanthemums, millet, hostas and other herbaceous plants. The base is glazed and slightly concave. 

Harrison-Hall 2001:
Plants growing in this fashion from undulating soil may also be seen on a blue-and-white pen box excavated from the Yongle stratum at Zhushan in 1984. In support of this dating are the pure white porcelain body and soft-focus blue cobalt effect employed on the present jar.

Lot 1182. A very rare blue and white faceted vase, Ming dynasty, late 15th century, 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000.© Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Of square section, the vase is decorated on the faceted body with a continuous scene of Daoist figures in a landscape with rocks and plants, all between lappet petals on the foot and upright leaves on the neck which is flanked by a pair of halberd-form handles, fitted Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Yukawa Genyo (Shichiseki-ou, b. 1867) Collection; Osaka Bijutsu Club, 15 June 1937, lot 164.

 The present vase in the Osaka Bijitsu Club catalogue, 15 June 1937, lot 164.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1183. A rare iron-red, green, yellow and turquoise-glazed vase, meiping, Late Ming dynasty, 16th century, 9 ½ in. (24.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The vase is decorated predominantly in iron red and green with small touches of yellow and turquoise glaze, the upper register with two pairs of four-clawed dragons contesting a flaming pearl amidst ruyi-form clouds and above waves crashing against rocks, and the lower register with two phoenixes with long, trailing tail feathers in flight amidst leafy flower scroll, all between a cloud collar on the shoulder, and a petal-lappet band above the foot, Japanese wood box.

Note: The particular combination of iron-red and green, yellow and turquoise glazes on this slender meiping, found primarily during the Jiajing period (1521-1567). According to Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt in Ming Porcelain, New York, 1978, p. 164, in her discussion of the 'Red-and-Green' Group, this palette would come to dominate polychrome porcelains, eventually leading to the appearance of famille verte during the second half of the seventeenth century. Wares of this type were usually decorated primarily in iron-red and green, with some yellow. More unusually, there was sometimes the addition of turquoise, as seen on a large jar and cover in the Musée Guimet, illustrated op. cit., p. 165, pl. 146, and on the present meiping. See, also, the more broadly proportioned meiping of Jiajing date illustrated by Liu Liang-yu in Ming Official Wares, Taipei,1991, p. 195, that is decorated in iron-red and green with two bands of flower scroll arranged between decorative borders above and below in a fashion similar to the decoration on the present meiping. 

Lot 1184. An unusual blue and white dish with foliate rim, Wanli six-character mark within a double circle in underglaze blue and of the period (1573-1619), 5 ¾ in. (14.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The dish is decorated on the interior with a five-clawed dragon and a long-tailed phoenix amidst stylized clouds, the cavetto and the reverse are similarly decorated with two pairs of confronting dragon and phoenix, cloth box.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1187. A large blue and white double-gourd vase, Wanli period (1573-1619), 22 3/8 in. (56.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The heavily potted vase is decorated all over with shou character medallions amidst clouds, each facet of the lower body with a medallion of Shoulao seated beside an incense burner above a continuous band of breaking waves at the base, the upper bulb further decorated with four circular medallions containing a peach-bearing tree trunk twisted into the shape of a shou character.

Provenance: Private collection, Germany, acquired in the 1920s. 
Nagel, Stuttgart, 8 May 2009, lot 46.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1188. An underglaze blue-decorated yellow-ground square bowl, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566), 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm.) across. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl has deep, slightly rounded flaring sides. Each facet is painted in underglaze blue with an animated, five-clawed dragon with tufts of hair amidst sprigs of lingzhi fungus, and the center of the interior with a square medallion enclosing a stylized shou character below a foliate scroll at the rim, all within double blue line borders and reserved on a thin, pale lemon-yellow ground..

Note: A bowl of the same pattern and shape, formerly in the H. J. Oppenheim Collection, is illustrated by R. L. Hobson, The Wares of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1923, pl. 27 (top). Another example is illustrated in The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1981, p. 197, no. 811. An aubergine, green and yellow-decorated example is illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S. C. Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, Part I, p. 118, no. 70, where it is noted that square bowls of this type were popular during the Jiajing period and were decorated with other designs and color schemes, but their popularity declined after the Wanli period.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1189. A large blue and white lobed jar, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566), 12 5/8 in. (32 cm.) high. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The six-lobed jar is decorated in the exterior with rows of stylized lotus flowers borne on foliate scrolling stems, above lappets at the spreading foot and below scrolling bands on the shoulder and neck. 

Note: Although large blue and white jars are well-known from the late Ming period, it is unusual to find such a large example which combines lobed sides with a flaring foot and lotus scroll decoration, such as that seen on the present jar. 

A related Jiajing-marked lobed jar, but smaller than the present jar (20.5 cm. high), is illustrated in Enlightening Elegance: Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming: The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, p. 180, no. 39, and another smaller (16.7 cm. high) Jiajing-marked jar, decorated with lotus scroll, was sold at Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1296.

A blue and white 'lotus' jar, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566), 6 5/8 in. (16.7 cm.) high. Sold for USD 68,750 at Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1296. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 6. Fortuny, circa 1920, Model 'Delphos'. Estimate 2,000 — 2,200 €. Photo: Sotheby's. 

A pale blue pleated silk shift edged with glass Murano beads and a matching stencilled belt, with a silk gauze bat sleeve tunic.

Note: This model was called 'Delphos' after the Charioteer of Delphi by Henriette Fortuny.

Sotheby's. 1921-2010 Les Petites Robes Noires, Collection Didier Ludot, Paris, 03 Oct 2017, 02:30 PM