MING DYNASTY, FIRST HALF OF 16TH CENTURY

In the late 15th century, Chinese potters began to use lead silicate enamels as glazes directly onto the body of porcelain. The result was colourful translucent glazes of yellow, green, turquoise, and aubergine tones. The early 16th century saw many novel shaped in vessels influenced by Middle Eastern forms, including squared vases, pear-shaped ewers and hexagonal vases such as the present lot.

Compare with a vase of this exact form in turquoise and yellow glaze with an additional moulded chilong dragon on the neck excavated from a tomb at Xiaojia village, Chengdu city, Sichuan province and dated to the Jiajing period, illustrated by Zhang Bai, Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, vol.10, 2008, p. 173