43 cm. （17 in.） high

Property of a Private Hong Kong Collector

Provenance：
Acquired by the current owner in Hong Kong, 1990s

Dating back to the early Northern Song dynasty, the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen managed to successfully produce very fine white-bodied porcelain covered in delicate glazes of pale aquamarine blue. They named this glaze Qingbai or ‘blue white’； Yingqing or ‘shadow blue’, and examples were highly sought after. The white porcelain body, made from baidunzi or ‘Nangang stone’, was typically fired upright on clay pads or rings which often left orange-red circles or marks on the bases. Similar archaeological examples to the present lot were excavated from a tomb dated to 1324 at Shizhenjie, Wannian county in 1972, now part of the collection housed at the Jiangxi Museum. See one such excavated example of a Qingbai meiping decorated with dragon and peony sprays, together with a cover decorated with a Buddhist lion finial, illustrated by Zhang Bai, Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2007, no.92.

It is important to note that the current lot, similar to the aforementioned
excavated example, retains its original cover, which is extremely rare. A further pair of meiping with covers, also excavated from a tomb in Wannian county, Jiangxi province, dated in accordance to 1324, is illustrated by Peng Shifan （ed.）, Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, cat.no.97； one of them illustrated again in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, Vol.11, Shanghai, 2000, pl.47.

The Qingbai glaze became widely recognised and popular； so highly regarded were the Qingbai wares that they were recorded in Tao Ji or ‘Official Records on Ceramics’ （c.1214-1234） by the Song ceramics historian Jiang Qi, as being as refined and pure as Rao yu or ‘jade from Raozhou’； Raozhou was the region where the Jingdezhen kilns were located. The meiping shape of Qingbai wares was no doubt an inspiration taken from contemporaneous silver wares； see a 13th century example of a Qingbai meiping decorated with peonies （accession no.C.22-1935） formerly in the George Eumorfopoulos Collection, acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, via The Art Fund, the Vallentin Bequest, Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee
in 1935.

The phoenix depicted in the present lot is extremely rare. The motif represents the empress, which in turn suggests that the current lot was probably commissioned for a female member of the royal household. The phoenix is also widely considered as the emperor of all birds, which only appears only in time of peace and prosperity. It is believed that the phoenix’s appearance augurs the emergence of an able ruler or the arrival or a great man. When the phoenix or feng
（鳳） is depicted together with peony or fuguihua （富貴花）, they form the homonym ‘may there be wealth, rank, and good fortune’ or fugue jixiang （富貴吉祥）. The phoenix dallying with the peony also forms the homonym fengxi mudan （鳳戲牡丹） and fengchuan mudan （鳳穿牡丹）； together they augur ‘great blessings and prosperity’.

For further related examples, see a Qingbai meiping decorated with dragon design dated to the Yuan dynasty from the Carl Kempe Collection, previously exhibited extensively at Coppenhagen （1950）, Venice, （1954）, Helsinki （1956）, New York （1971） and nine other museums in the United States of America, published by Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl.570. See also another related example of a Qingbai meiping decorated with dragon and floral motif, previously exhibited at the Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong in 1984, illustrated in Jingdezhen Wares. The Yuan Evolution, Hong Kong, 1984, pp.58-59 and 95, no.28. It is interesting to note that the author also mentioned that a similar meiping was excavated from a tomb dated to 1325, illustrated by J.M. Addis, Chinese Ceramics from Datable Tombs, London, 1978, pl.26. Compare also a yuhuchunping with incised floral decoration （accession no.25.215.6） consistent with the Yuan dynasty （late 13th-early 14th century） dating in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by S. Pierson （ed.）, Qingbai Ware： Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, London, 2002, pp.156-157, no.81.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, C-Link Research and Development Limited, no.3500BE50.

Price estimate:
HKD: 2, 800, 000 - 3, 200, 000
USD: 359, 000 - 410, 300

Auction Result:
HKD: --