Lot 13
  • 13

A RARE WUCAI 'LOTUS SCROLL' TRIPOD CENSER AND COVER WANLI MARKS AND PERIOD

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
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Description

  • porcelain
formed of three sections, the censer body of low cylindrical form supported on three ruyi-form feet below a flanged rim, vividly painted around the exterior with foliate lotus scrolls with blossoms in blue, red and white, between lotus sprays on the feet, and a blue-ground classic scroll at the rim, the interior fitted with a dish-shaped porcelain liner decorated with fruiting and flowering branches of peach enclosed in lobed panels against a blue lattice ground, inscribed with the six-character mark, further surmounted by a domed reticulated cover with blue and red diapers within a border of detached classic scroll segments and a composite floral scroll around the sides, all divided by line borders, the base partially glazed and inscribed in a countersunk medallion with the second six-character mark within double circles (3)

Provenance

Collection of Emil Hultmark (1872-1943), Stockholm, Sweden. 
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 148. 
Christie's New York, 21st March 2002, lot 173. 

Literature

Leopold Reideister, Ming-Porzellane ind schwedischen Sammlungen, Berlin, Leipzig, 1935, pl. 46(c). 

Condition

The strap handles that were originally flanking the base and the feline tabs on the interior liner have been ground down. There are some typical imperfections and shrinkage in the glaze on the interior. There is fritting along the edge of the base on the underside. There are also firing imperfections to the liner and cover. There are a few old chips to the interior rim of the domed cover.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A Wanli censer in the Tokyo National Museum of this very rare form and with the same painting, with a pierced cover, four free-standing animals around the rim of the liner and two broad strap handles rising from the tripod base, is illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 228, who notes that the shape is inspired by archaic bronze ding of the Eastern Zhou period. Another tripod base, lacking a cover or liner, is illustrated in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji / Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 765.