WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)

Details

A VERY RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘HEHE ERXIAN’ DISH
WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)
6 7⁄8 in. (17.5 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Collection of Mr and Mrs Edmund Toeg
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 3 December 1963, lot 83

Literature

- Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain 14^th to 19^th Centuries, London, 1953, Catalogue, no. 178
- Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 44
- Liu Liang-yu, Ming Official Wares: A Survey of Chinese Ceramics 4, Taipei, 1991, p.293
- Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Taipei, 1992, p.160-161, no. 63
- Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1996, p. 172-173, no. 70
- Auspicious Emblems: Chinese Cultural Treasures-45^th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, November 2005, p.301, no.199

Exhibited

- Oriental Ceramic Society, Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain 14^th to 19^th Centuries, London, 16 December 1953 – 23 January 1954, no.178
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 44
- Chang Foundation, Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Taipei, 1992, no. 63
- Shanghai Museum, Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1996, p. 172-173, no. 70
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Auspicious Emblems: Chinese Cultural Treasures-45^th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 25 September 2005-19 July 2006, p.301, no.199

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Sherese Tong (唐晞殷) AVP, Senior Specialist

stong@christies.com +852 2978 6733

Lot Essay

The Hehe Erxian, or the Two Immortals of Harmony and Unity, were believed to preside over happy marriages, and are adaptations of two famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty, Hanshan and Shide.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the twins were usually depicted holding a box, he, and a lotus stem. The homophone provides a rebus for harmony.

Wanli dishes depicting this subject is very rare. One Wanli-marked example of identical design is known, exhibited at Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and Their Predecessors, S. Marchant and Son Ltd., London, 1997, cat.no. 13 (fig. 1).

Compare also to a related Wanli dish depicting two immortals or priests wearing very similar caps to the figures on the current dish, also carrying lanterns, but decorated with a lotus scroll instead of double gourds on the well, in the National Palace Museum, acquisition no. guci 005555N000000000 (fig. 2).

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