AN EXTREMELY RARE BLUE AND WHITE GARLIC NECK 'LOTUS' VASE, MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, Two Americans in Paris. A Quest for Asian Art, Paris, 2016, p. 185, no. 294.

Exhibited:
1. Pointe-à-Callière Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Montréal, 17 November 2016-19 March 2017.
2. Kimbell Art Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Fort Worth, Texas, 4 March-19 August 2018.

Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 November 2006, based on sample number P206c24, sets the firing date of the sample taken between 400 and 700 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.

China, 1572-1620. Finely potted, the pear-shaped body raised on a tall splayed foot and terminating in a lotiform ‘garlic-head’ mouth pierced at the top to simulate a seed pod. The body molded with two bands of notched flanges above three rows of lotus petals similar to those found on the mouth. The exterior painted in shades of cobalt blue with Buddhist wheels amid scrolling clouds and wispy flames, below a band of lingzhi, all divided by the flanges. The foot decorated with the terrestrial diagram amid crashing waves and clouds.

Provenance: Bonhams London, 5 November 2007, lot 189, sold for GBP 7,200 or approx. EUR 16,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France, acquired from the above.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including dark spots and small firing cracks, the vase leaning slightly, minor fritting to exposed areas, the foot with two fills to drilled holes from sample-taking.

Weight: 921 g
Dimensions: Height 27.5 cm

Expert’s note:
The form of this vase is based on bronze prototype dating from the Han period, also decorated with garlic heads, see one example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, object number 中銅001232N000000000. The overall form and flanges encircling the body and neck can also been observed in a group of blue and white arrow vases, see one example dated to the Wanli period from the Percival David Foundation and now in the British Museum, registration number PDF,A.662.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related blue and white garlic-head vase with similar form, pierced mouth, and notched flanges, dated to the Jiajing period, 31.1 cm high, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number C.100-1928. Compare a related molded blue and white vase with lotus petals, dated to the Wanli period, 25 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1927,0618.1.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 13 December 2012, lot 483
Price: EUR 15,000 or approx. EUR 21,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Chinese late Ming blue and white 'arrow vase', second half 16^th century
Expert remark: Compare the related form and decoration of this example belonging to the group of arrow vases mentioned in the expert’s note above. Note the size (14 cm) and that the vase is shortened.