Importante e Raro Vaso Meiping

Imposing and rare Meiping vase
Cobalt-blue glazed white porcelain
China, Ming dynasty, Jingdzhen kilns
Marked for Wanli reign (1572-1620)
Height: 47,0 cm

Importante e Raro Vaso Meiping
Porcelana branca vidrada decorada a azul-cobalto
China, Dinastia Ming, período e marcas Wanli (1573-1620)
Alt.: 47,0 cm

White, Wanli reign marked, tall wide-body porcelain vase of narrow neck, decorated in rich cobalt-blue slip under the glaze. The body, profusely decorated with Lotus flowers and foliage scrolls, ends, towards the shoulder and base, in a curious interpretation of “Lotus panels”, encircled by a frieze of stylized trefoils.
Six character Wanli mark within a blue ring encircling the neck, meaning Wanli nian hao – made in the Wanli reign of the Great Ming Dynasty.
Firing faults around the base and small restoration to the lip.

Meiping are vases destined to hold flowering plum tree branches, most appreciated in Chinese culture as they indicate the end of cold and rigorous winters. The flowering trees, announcing the arrival of spring, are responsible for the feeling of happiness and emotion that suddenly invades the people.

This particular type of meiping vase, produced in the royal potteries throughout the Wanli reign, was destined to be used in the Imperial palace or by courtiers. Meiping as large as this are extremely rare. Three pairs, with the same type of decoration and identical dimensions, were unearthed from the Dingling Mausoleum – the tomb of emperor Wanli and of his two wives Wang Xijie e Dowager Xiaojing – during the archaeological excavation seasons of 1956 to 1958 .

Ming porcelain was generally decorated with motifs evoking the ephemeral nature of life, such as fast, almost instantaneous brushstroke flowers and plants. The blue and white that predominated for five centuries of Chinese porcelain production, from the 14th to the 18th centuries, will reach its golden age during the Xuande reign (1426-1435). Large numbers of bowls, plates, pilgrim bottles, meiping, fishbowls and bottles were produced throughout this reign in a variety of decorative compositions that included fish, birds, trees aquatic plants and landscapes.

Exhibited: “A Cidade Global, Lisboa no Renascimento”, M. N. Arte Antiga, Lisboa 2017; (catálogo pág. 147)

For other similar vases:
- JÖRG, C. J. A.; CAMPEN, Jan van; Chinese ceramics in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: the Ming and Qing dynasties; p. 42, fig. 20; Philip Wilson in association with the Rijksmuseum; London, 1997
- VAINKER, S. J.; Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: from prehistory to the present; Published for the Trustees of the British Museum; London, 1991

Meiping em porcelana branca e com decoração a azul-cobalto sob vidrado, do periodo Ming, Wanli e com marcas do período.
Corpo profusamente decorado com Flores de Lótus e enrolamentos vegetalistas, terminando numa curiosa interpretação de “Painéis de Lótus”, rematados com motivos em sequência de Trifólios estilizados.
Durante o reinado de Wanli (1573-1619) este tipo de Meiping era cuidadosamente fabricado nas oficinas reais, para uso do palácio e da corte. São no entanto extremamente raros os Meiping com esta dimensão. Foram encontrados três pares de Meipings muito idênticos e de dimensões semelhantes a esta peça, no túmulo de Wanli, le Dingling, durante as escavações feitas de 1956 a 1958.

Marca Wanli a seis caracteres em azul, escritos na horizontal no ombro do vaso, envolvendo o gargalo, com a inscrição “Wanli nian hao” - Feito no período Wanli da Grande Dinastia Ming.