41.
A LARGE WUCAI GARLIC-MOUTH BOTTLE VASE, SUANTOUPING
Ming dynasty, Wanli mark and of the period
50 cm high
Da Ming Wanli nianzhi six-character mark.
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
Inv. no. 3840.
The vase is painted in the wucai palette, with underglaze blue and overglaze red, yellow and green enamels. The decoration consists of four five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls amidst leafy peony and other floral sprays.
The main border is flanked by overlapping ruyi-shaped lappets above the foot and a band of ruyi-heads around the shoulders, both symbolic of long life. The neck is decorated with a lotus scroll, symbolic of purity, below a zigzag wave design and suspended beads and ornaments. The mouth is in the shape of a garlic-bulb decorated with pendant plantain leaves.
The shape of this vase – with its characteristic bulbous head – is derived from a short-lived production of archaic bronze wine vessels of the late Zhou/ Han dynasty (for a hu bronze vase of this type, see J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York 1995, p. 52).
This vase belongs to a group of similar pieces which can be considered as an outstanding production of Jingdezhen kilns destined to the imperial court during the Wanli period, for their imposing size, the elegance of the decoration and the vividness of the polychrome enamels.
Similarly shaped Wanli mark and period vases were decorated in wucai during the Wanli period in four main decorative schemes, each with certain variations: the dragon design as in this vase (see the item in the Baur Collection: J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, 4 voll., Geneve 1968-1974: 1969, II, pl. A203; another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei: Minji meihin zuroku 1978, III, pl. 99; the one published by Soame Jenyns, 1988, pl. 187; another in the Chang Foundation: J. Spencer, Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasty, Taipei 1990, p. 110; the one in the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin: inv. n. KGM 02.19); the dragon and phoenix alternating design (see the vase in the Matsuoka Museum of Art: Toyo toji meihin zuroku 1991, pl. 94); birds and waterfowl design (see the two larger vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, one illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku 1978, III, pl. 100, and the other published in L. Liang-yu, Ming Official Wares, Taipei 1991, p. 255 (top right); see also the one in the Palace Museum, Beijing: Zhongguo taoci quanji, 2000, 13, pl. 109; compare also with the pair in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo: Idemitsu Museum 1981, n. 861); the fish and sea creatures design (see the vase from the Qing Court Collection, Palace Museum, Beijing: Porcelains in Polychrome 1999, p. 29, n. 26).
Closely related decoration to the present vase was also done in underglaze blue (see the item in the Shanghai Museum: L. Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming Imperial Porcelain], Shanghai 2007, pl. 1-74; the one published by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection. Vol. 4, London 2010, p. 1697; and the one in in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, inv. n. 49.1669).
