Lot 256
![[COLLECTION OF ELSIE TOLLEMACHE] RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON AND PHEASANTS' VASE](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/104cbde6-0d38-43cb-9e0f-bb721ef57bcf/inventory/a7c7c2a3-0004-4f62-927d-1311acce4036/e7f22049-7804-404c-8e91-9fc6f3c4d5a5/0001_VTqfAP_original.jpeg)
[COLLECTION OF ELSIE TOLLEMACHE] RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON AND PHEASANTS' VASE
MING DYNASTY, WANLI MARK AND OF THE PERIOD
Auction: 15 May 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
明萬曆 青花「大明萬曆年製」楷書雙圈款 青花雉雞龍紋瓶 鑲金屬口 帶木座
sturdily potted, the globular body rising on a high flaring foot, painted on the bulging body with pheasants on rockwork issuing flowers and leaves, the cylindrical foot with a pair of dragons chasing flaming pearls, centre of the counter sunk base inscribed with a six-character Wanli mark within a double-circle, the mouth with metal mount, with a bespoke hardwood base
Dimensions
19.5cm high
Provenance
Elsie Tollemache, niece of Oscar Raphael (1874–1941); thence by descent within the family.
Oscar Raphael was one of the leading English collectors of Chinese ceramics in the early 20th century. He worked closely with R. L. Hobson at the British Museum, a former President of the Oriental Ceramic Society, and played an important role in the organisation of the seminal 1935 Royal Academy Exhibition of Chinese Art.
It is understood that the present vase was acquired within this familial context, likely through Raphael’s direction and contacts in the early 20th-century Chinese art market.
艾爾西・托勒馬奇（Elsie Tollemache），奧斯卡・拉斐爾（Oscar Raphael, 1874–1941）之外甥女；其後家族遞藏。
奧斯卡・拉斐爾是20世紀初英國最重要的中國陶瓷收藏家之一。他與大英博物館的R. L. 霍布森密切合作，曾任東方陶瓷學會會長，並在1935年皇家藝術學院中國藝術里程碑式展覽的籌辦中發揮了重要作用。
據了解，此青花花瓶是在此家族背景下獲得的，很可能是透過拉斐爾在20世紀初中國藝術市場中的指引與人脈所購得。
Footnote
This vase would have been in the ‘gu’ form. A closely comparable example, Wanli mark and of the period, with the neck intact, was sold at Christie's Paris, 7 Jun 2011, lot 255. For the whole shape and form of the vase, with comparable decorations, mark and period, but painted in wucai palette, was sold at the abovementioned sale and from the same collector, see lot 240.