Of elegant, slender form, the vase is decorated with two shaped panels enclosing moulded peony sprays reserved against a carved diaper ground. The celadon glaze of soft olive-green tone pools gently within the recesses, while the foot rim reveals the characteristic reddish body associated with Longquan kilns.
A slender Longquan celadon vase
Description
Early Ming dynasty, 15th century
Dimensions: 33.3 cm high
Provenance:
Galerie Groß, Wiesbaden, 1984
Collection Annelotte Elbrecht (1924–2013)
A private Dutch collection
Of elegant, slender form, the vase is decorated with two shaped panels enclosing moulded peony sprays reserved against a carved diaper ground. The celadon glaze of soft olive-green tone pools gently within the recesses, while the foot rim reveals the characteristic reddish body associated with Longquan kilns.
Longquan celadon wares of the early Ming period continue earlier traditions while introducing more structured surface designs. The peony motif, symbolising wealth and honour, is rendered here with refined simplicity. Examples of this type were widely exported and the present vase stands out for the quality of its glaze and balanced form.
Compare similar examples illustrated in Southeast Asian Ceramics Society, Chinese Celadons and other related wares in Southeast Asia, Singapore, 1979, ill. 196 and Eva Ströber, Ming Porcelain for a Globalised Trade, Stuttgart, 2013, fig. 69.
