A rare blue and white double-gourd vase, Jiajing mark and period - photo Sotheby's
each bulb painted in deep cobalt-blue with medallions of a dragon, two phoenix, and a crane among clouds, divided by spandrels of scrolling lingzhi supporting various Daoist emblems, all between a collar of lotus petal panels at the cut-down neck, lotus scroll at the waist, and a skirt of oblique lappets above hooked scrolls at the foot; Height 18 in., 45.7 cm - Estimation: 60,000 - 80,000 USD
PROVENANCE: Property from a Philadelphia Collection.
Sotheby's New York, 17th September 2003, lot 83
NOTE: The present vase with its vivid blues and energetic design is characteristic of the second half of the Jiajing emperor's reign. The design incorporates Daoist symbols such as the crane and lingzhi popular during the Jiajing reign but more unusual are the predominance of the emblems of power, the dragon and phoenix. Usually vases of this type feature two distinct designs; deer and crane beneath pine and peach trees and other various emblems of immortality or gatherings of Immortals again amidst further Daoist symbols. The inclusion of imperial imagery such as seen on the present vase is quite rare.
A vase of the same form and design in the Philadelphia Art Museum is illustrated by Jean Gordon Lee, Ming Blue and White, Catalogue, 1949, no. 110 and another is the Copenhagen Museum of Decorative Arts, Andre Leth, Catalogue of Selected Objects of Chinese Art, 1959, no. 112. A similar example was sold in these rooms 1st-2nd April 1974, lot 210 and Christie's London, 21st June 2001, lot 86.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 19 mars 2013 - www.sothebys.com