Dynasty Blue-and-White Octagonal Meiping with Reserved White Dragons amid Waves

拍品描述

Dimensions 55 cm (approximately 21.65 in); Yuan Dynasty, 13th–14th centuryCondition and Provenance in well-preserved condition, retaining its complete faceted mouth, short neck, broad shoulders, eight-sided body, and octagonal base. The cobalt decoration—including the wave ground, reserved dragons, floral panels, and associated auspicious motifs—remains clearly defined, with tones ranging from soft gray-blue to saturated indigo and deeper blue where pigment is more heavily concentrated. Localized natural firing diffusion and age-related surface variation are visible. The glaze has a mellow surface with minor wear, light staining, and traces consistent with long-term handling and display. The octagonal unglazed sanded base shows substantial trimming and finishing marks, old earthen deposits, kiln traces, staining, and natural contact wear. From a private collection in California, United States, with a history of family ownership overseas.Description an impressive 55 cm, or roughly 21.65 inches, this monumental octagonal meiping combines an unusually architectural form with one of the most visually dramatic approaches to blue-and-white decoration: white dragons reserved against an intensely worked cobalt wave ground. The vessel is formed with a small faceted mouth, short neck, broad swelling shoulders, and an eight-sided body that gradually narrows toward an octagonal foot. The faceting gives the vase a very different presence from a conventional rounded meiping. Each vertical edge creates a crisp structural line, while the broad faces between them act almost like connected panels for the painted design. At this scale, the form feels both sculptural and architectural. The principal decoration is built around large dragons that appear in reserve against an extraordinarily dense field of waves. Instead of painting the dragons as solid blue forms on white porcelain, the composition reverses the usual relationship: cobalt creates the surrounding sea, while the dragons emerge as broad areas of pale glazed ground. That negative-space approach gives the animals immediate visual authority. From across a room, the white bodies read instantly against the deep, highly patterned blue field. The dragons twist dramatically through the composition in long S-shaped movements. Their heads are raised, with elongated muzzles, backward-sweeping horns, flowing whiskers, and sharply extended claws. The bodies bend across multiple facets of the vessel, so no single viewpoint reveals the entire image. As the vase is turned, different sections of the dragon appear and disappear behind the edges of the octagonal form. This creates a remarkably dynamic relationship between painted image and ceramic structure. The surrounding sea is rendered with an exceptional density of line. Waves build one over another through repeated parallel curves, spirals, foam crests, short curling strokes, and dotted accents. Some areas suggest high breaking surf, while others collapse into circular whirlpools or flowing bands of water.

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