Lot 257
![[COLLECTION OF ELSIE TOLLEMACHE] RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' VASE, ZUN](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/104cbde6-0d38-43cb-9e0f-bb721ef57bcf/inventory/305577b8-bbfd-40e8-9f30-8b59c283d6a7/e5e44c53-5991-4f62-a415-08d39c518daf/0001_kkTnOh_original.jpeg)
[COLLECTION OF ELSIE TOLLEMACHE] RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' VASE, ZUN
MING DYANSTY, JIAJING MARK AND OF THE PERIOD
Auction: 15 May 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
明嘉靖 青花「大明嘉靖年製」楷書雙圈款 青花龍紋出戟尊 鑲金屬口
modelled after archaic bronze zun vessels, the bulging body decorated with two dragons amidst flames and clouds, separated by vertical flanges, further with bands of lappets, flowers, beads, and flaming clouds, the base inscribed with a six-character Jiajing mark within a double-circle, the mouth with metal mount
Dimensions
14.5cm 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
Comparable examples with similar shape and decoration are found with Wanli mark and of the period. For one previously in the Qing Court Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, accession no. Gu 故00144808; For another example with Wanli mark and period, in the collection of Reginald and Lena Palmer, exhibited at ‘Reginald and Lena Palmer, Their Collection and The Oriental Ceramic Society, 1921-1970’, Bonhams London, 27 Oct-2 Nov 2021, item 4.
For a Jiajing-period zun-form example, see a related extremely rare blue and white vase, painted with fish, dated to the Ming dynasty, Jiajing period, sold at Christie's New York, 22 Mar 2013, lot 1456.