A blue and white 'dragon and phoenix' meiping Ming Dynasty, mid-15th Century

sturdily potted with high rounded shoulders rising to a short waisted neck and a lipped mouthrim, freely painted in underglaze-blue with a ferocious five-clawed dragon in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl', its long scaly body striding amid clouds swirls and flames, all beneath a frieze depicting two confronting phoenix flying amid lotus flowers on leafy scrolling stems below a keyfret band at the neck, the foot painted with a wide band of turbulent crashing waves

Toki zenshu, vol.11, Tokyo, 1960, p. 17, fig. 32 right.

It is rare to find vases of this design and no other similar example appears to be recorded. For a later related piece see a slightly larger meiping painted with winged dragons amongst clouds above a band of swirling crested waves and below a band of flower scroll around the neck, sold at Christie's London, 26th November 1974, lot 238, and again in our London rooms, 6th July 1976, lot 149.