Ming Xuande Blue‑and‑White Moon‑Shaped Flask with Foreign Musician Dancers,Ming Dynasty,Xuande Period

拍品描述

Dimensions：H.0.919 ft.（H.28 cm） Condition & Provenance：The flask is entirely intact,free of cracks,hairlines,chips and restorations.The two handles,neck and flat body corners remain perfect,only faint gentle age‑related wear visible on rim.Heavy cobalt accumulations display characteristic iron‑rust specks and natural pigment bleeding of smalt cobalt.The glaze is lustrous and smooth,carrying genuine old‑time patina,tiny scattered glaze pinholes present without significant glaze loss.The unglazed flat base shows dry solid porcelain body covered with varied aged soil encrustation,sand inclusions and natural firing rust‑red discoloration,no reign mark on base,original archaic wheel‑trimming marks preserved without modern grinding.No glaze filling and no later‑added overglaze colors.This work comes from private collection of Mr.J・M,San Francisco,California,USA.It was acquired from a well‑established local San Francisco oriental art gallery in 1983,passed down within two family generations and stored in climate‑controlled private insured storage.It has never been offered for public auction,has no public exhibition history and was never lent to any public museum institution. Description：This Ming Xuande blue‑and‑white moon‑shaped flask is a classic imperial‑kiln moon‑flask form of early Ming.It features straight mouth,long neck with pair of ruyi‑scroll shaped side handles,large flattened moon‑shape body and flat base without foot ring.The neck is decorated with blue‑and‑white plantain‑leaf band,shoulder‑neck transition is encircled by stylized lotus‑petal band.Both sides of flattened body are painted with narrative scene of foreign musicians and dancers set within landscape of craggy rocks,old trees,plantains,bamboo groves,hills and river banks.Multiple foreign figures in dynamic postures hold musical instruments,some blow and some strike instruments,fluid rendering of robe folds and vivid facial expression faithfully depict exotic music‑dance theme.A broad band of upward lotus‑petal ornament runs along lower body near base.Imported smalt cobalt yields deep saturated blue tone mixed with inky speckling.Painted decoration possesses rich layers,carefully rendered rock texture,tree branches and human costumes with well‑balanced full composition.The whole vessel is covered by thick soft bluish‑white glaze with restrained luster.Heavy solid body,natural soil stain and firing discoloration on exposed base perfectly demonstrate extraordinary body‑forming,painting and firing craftsmanship of Xuande imperial kilns.This represents a rare high‑grade early‑Ming blue‑and‑white moon‑flask with human‑figure motif.

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