A FINE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE BIRD FEEDER MARK AND PERIOD OF XUANDE

the small drum-shaped container painted in bright washes of cobalt blue with four quatrefoil cartouches, inscribed horizontally in two with the reign mark Da Ming Xuande Nianzhi - with three characters in each cartouche, the third panel filled with a cloud conforming to the shape of the panel and the fourth with another cloud and set with a small eyelet loop for attaching to the side of the cage, further decorated with triangular clouds in the spaces between the panels, all between thin bands of slip-painted horizontal raised lines separated by blue vertical lines encircling the unglazed mouth and the foot, the base painted in bright cobalt with a stylised floret, the cobalt with natural 'heaping and piling'

Eskenazi Ltd., London.

Yuan and Early Ming Blue and White Porcelain, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1994, cat. no. 24.

The overall condition is very good with only a few minor scratches on the exterior.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Xuande-marked bird feeders of a variety of imaginative and ingenious forms are illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 49; fig. 85. The present example is unusual for the two moulded bands of studs, which may be simulating the nails used to stretch the leather head of a drum, and for the reign mark which has been incorporated into the overall decoration.

For further Xuande mark and period bird feeders with a small loop handle, see one of slightly more globular form and incurved rim decorated with camellias and a six-petalled flower to the base, included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1989, cat. no. 48; another with a short neck and painted with a peony scroll published in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum. Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. II, pt. I, Hong Kong, 1963, pl. 26; and a third example of related form, but moulded and decorated with a dragon, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 2010, pl. 1658.