A rare wucai square gu vase mark and period of Wanli

well potted after the archaistic gu form, elaborately enamelled in the wucai palette, the mid-section with four panels each enclosing a sage under pine trees, divided by smaller panels with floral sprays, above floral sprays and a keyfret border at the foot, the sides of the neck decorated with two dragons amid cloud scrolls and two phoenix amid scrolling flowers, the interior with floral sprays, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double square (hardwood stand)

A Wanli wucai vase of this square shape, similarly painted with sages in a garden setting, is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, fig. 209; and another related vase from the Edward T. Chow collection was sold in these rooms 19^th May 1981, lot 434. Compare also a vase published in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 928; and one in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, included in Toji taikei, vol. 43, Tokyo, 1960, pl. 85.