Blue and White Covered Vase with a Clay Dragon among Clouds, Ming Dynasty

PP-0111

Description

A blue and white porcelain vase with broad rounded shoulders, a short neck painted with pointed leaves and a high, flared foot. The shoulder is painted with clouds and trailing cloud wisps, and round it coils a dragon modelled in clay and applied in relief, with a finely scaled body, a serrated spine, a flowing mane and long whiskers, its surface a golden ochre brown. Below, a band of flower scroll and a ring of panels enclosing clouds lead to a foot painted with a scroll of peony blossom.

The tall waisted cover fits over the neck. Its flat top is painted with three linked clouds, and its sides with clouds and peony sprays in lobed panels, between a lattice band at the top and a flower scroll at the foot. The clay of the dragon has a small chip near one of its feet. We attribute the vase to the early Ming dynasty.

Height 64 cm with cover, 46 cm without · Diameter 30 cm · Cover: height 23.5 cm, diameter 16 cm