A BLUE AND WHITE 'PEONY' VASE Hongzhi The baluster body rising from a spreading foot to a tall, flared neck flanked by a pair of handles issuing from beast heads and terminating at a basin rim, painted in cobalt blue to the centre register with dense leafy and floral peony sprays and rocks, framed by bands of lingzhi fungus sprays and upright plantain leaves encircling the neck, and a row of stylised lappets around the lower body. 32.5cm (12 3/4in) high. Footnotes: Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 明弘治 青花花卉賞石紋獸耳供瓶 Provenance: acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, in May 2007 (collector's notes) Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: M.White, Living at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection, vol.4, n.p, 2023, p.291 (Published and Illustrated) The Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons: Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members, London, 2016, pp.200-201, no.117 來源：獲得于倫敦古董商R & G McPherson Antiques，2007年5月（藏家筆記） 展覽著錄：M.White，《Living at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection》，第4冊，無出版地，2023年，第291頁（著錄） 東方陶瓷學會，《龍隱：東方陶瓷學會會員稀珍藏品展》，倫敦，2016年，第200-201頁，編號117頁 Blue and white ceramics of the Hongzhi period are characterised by the use of 'local cobalt' (平等青 pingdeng qing), which contains lower levels of iron and other impurities. Combined with the soft brushstrokes evident in the present lot, this results a gentle, pale blue tone and a charming sense of artlessness. See a blue and white temple vase of similar shape and plantain leaves around the neck, dated 1496, illustrated in Catalogue of Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, vol.1 (大英博物館藏中國明代陶瓷：上冊), Beijing, 2014, p.215. See also a related blue and white vase with lotus, Zhengtong, excavated from the tomb of Zhang Shuwei dated 1447 in Jiangxi province, illustrated in Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares in Mid Fifteenth Century China, Shanghai, 2019, p.362. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing