LARGE BLUE AND WHITE 'MYTHICAL BEASTS' JAR
MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY
£5,544
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 16 May 2023 from 10:00 BST
Description
明 青花瑞獸紋大罐
sturdily potted on a gently concave base, rising to broad shoulders and inverted mouth, painted around the body with a continuous scene of four mythical beasts with slender billowing flames in flight amongst auspicious clouds above a band of undulating waves crashing onto three-pointed rocky hills, a ruyi lappet border decorated the shoulders
Dimensions
30.5cm diameter
Provenance
Provenance: Private Scottish collection, North Berwick, has been collecting Asian ceramics for 25 years.
Acquired from Solveig and Anita Gray Oriental Ceramics and Works of Art Gallery, London, on 8 August 1996. With an original receipt no. 561, dated this piece to Ming dynasty, mid-16th century.
Footnote
Note: Compare to a similar but more liberated decoration of mythical beasts in flight amongst flames, clouds, and splashes of water, above crashing waves and rocky hills, painted on a blue and white bottle vase, dated to the Ming dynasty, possibly Wanli period, ca. 1573-1620, in the collection of the British Museum, museum no. Franks.747