Herkomst
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 11 October 2004 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scans)
Exhibited & published:
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their June 1997 exhibition of 'Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and their Predecessors' and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 20-21, no. 9.
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their 2004 exhibition of 'Ming Blue and White: Jiajing - Chongzhen. Including Datex Examples', and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 28-29, no. 18. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', vol. I, p. 458, fig. 843.
Beschrijving
The vase is modelled after an archaic bronze 'Zun', with a widely flared mouth, a gently waisted neck, a compressed globular body, a tall stem and a splayed foot. Four vertical flanges extend down the neck, body and foot, giving the vessel a strong and archaistic profile. The neck is painted in underglaze blue with peonies growing beside rockwork, their flowering branches enlivened by hovering bees. The body is decorated on opposite sides with a five-clawed dragon and a phoenix moving amid scrolling clouds. The stem is encircled by bands of scrolling flowers and cloud motifs, while the foot is defined by underglaze-blue line borders. The base bears a six-character 'Da Ming Wanli Nian Zhi' mark in underglaze-blue regular script within a double circle.
The dragon and phoenix respectively symbolise the Emperor and Empress, while the peony conveys wishes for wealth, honour and prosperity. Together, these motifs form an auspicious decoration associated with imperial dignity and good fortune. The cobalt blue is applied in varied tones, lending vitality to the dragon and phoenix and richness to the luxuriant peony foliage, while the archaistic form complements the courtly symbolism of the design.
此尊仿古代青銅器形制，敞口外撇，長頸微束，腹部扁圓鼓出，下承高脛及外撇圈足。頸、腹及足部四面縱向設出戟，輪廓挺拔，形制古雅。頸部以青花繪山石牡丹紋，花枝舒展，間有蜜蜂飛舞，腹部兩面分繪五爪龍與鳳鳥，穿行於卷雲之間。脛部環飾纏枝花卉及如意雲紋，足緣以青花弦線收束。底心青花雙圈內書 ‘大明萬曆年製’ 六字楷書款。
龍、鳳分別象徵帝王與后妃，牡丹寓富貴榮華，諸般紋飾相互結合，寄託尊貴吉祥之意。青花濃淡有致，龍鳳姿態矯健，牡丹枝葉繁茂，仿古器形與宮廷祥瑞題材相得益彰。
Reference:
An identical example from the John Gardner Coolidge Collection is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, accession number 46.490. (link)
Another near-identical example is in the Beijing Palace Museum, object number 00144808. (link)
For another identical example in the Qing Court Collection, see 'Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum', p. 182, no. 112.
Another is illustrated by Wang Qing-Zheng, 'Underglaze Blue and Red in the Shanghai Museum', plate 65.
For a closely comparable example, see Bonhams in their 2021 loan exhibition 'Reginald and Lena Palmer, their Collection, and the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1921-1970', item 4. (link)
Kavel 33
Wanli mark and of the period
H.: 21,2 cm
Schatting
€ 80.000 – € 120.000
Herkomst
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 11 October 2004 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scans)
Exhibited & published:
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their June 1997 exhibition of 'Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and their Predecessors' and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 20-21, no. 9.
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their 2004 exhibition of 'Ming Blue and White: Jiajing - Chongzhen. Including Datex Examples', and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 28-29, no. 18. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', vol. I, p. 458, fig. 843.