A 'FOREIGNERS' CLOISONNE VASE, LATE MING DYNASTY

A RARE CLOISONNE ENAMEL 'FOREIGNERS' VASE, LATE MING TO EARLY QING
China, 1560-1680. Of square slender form with tapering sides on a recessed gilt base rising to an everted rim gilt to the interior and exterior, and a gilt border between the sides and the shoulder. The reddish gilt and deep sapphire blue ground suggest this vase was made during the late Ming dynasty.

Provenance: From an old Boston family estate, by repute acquired in China around 1900, thence by descent in the same family.
Condition: Fine condition with extensive wear, dents especially to the base and finial, small losses, old touch-ups and fillings mostly to edges, firing flaws and extensive pitting, all as expected from wares of this period and type. Fine patina with malachite green areas.

Weight: 2,429 g
Dimensions: Height 37.8 cm

Enameled with gilt wire, two sides showing two or three foreigners on a bridge above a deer or a Manchurian crane amid scrolling lotus with blossoms, pines, bats, and dragonflies, the other two sides with blossoming lotus, pine, deer and a central pavilion, below ruyi and cash bands, the shoulder with lotus flowers below a key fret band, all on a deep sapphire blue ground, a choice of color associated with early cloisonne from the Jingtai era onwards.

After Macau was leased to Portugal in 1557 as a trading post, in exchange for an annual rent of 500 tael, the subject of foreigners became increasingly popular again, foreigners having been depicted in Chinese ceramics as early as the Tang period but seemingly forgotten in secular art until the Ming dynasty. Combining a fascination with the exotic and derisive yet benevolent humor, these foreigners (usually Portuguese or Dutch) are depicted with exaggerated features bordering on the grotesque, of which the present piece is a striking example.

Literature comparison: Compare with a pair of cloisonne and gilt bronze candle holders in the form of foreigners, sold by Christie's Hong Kong in Masterpieces of the Enameller's Art from the Mandel Collection on 30 May 2012, lot 3906.

罕見的景泰藍《西洋人》方瓶，明末清初
中國，1560-1680。方形細長，頸部内凹，邊緣交叉処鎏金。紅色的鍍金和深藍寶石色底表明此花瓶是在明末。

來源：波士頓老家族遺產，據説1900年前後購於中國，自此保存在同一家族至今。
品相：品相良好，嚴重磨損，尤其是底部有凹痕，細小的損失，陳舊的修補和填充物大部分在邊緣，燒製缺陷和廣泛的凹痕，所有這些都是這個時期和類型的產品所具有的特徵。

重量：2,429 克
尺寸：高37.8 厘米