A blue and white tall-necked Bottle, Ming dynasty, Chenghua (1465-87).
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Unusual shape, globular body, recessed underglazed base, decorated in underglaze blue with five clawed dragons amongst lotus scrolls. Height 48 cm.
Literature
Regina Krahl; The Emperors broken china. Reconstructing Chenghua porcelain. Sothebys 21 augusti - 22 september 1995. Compare lot 46.
More information
Similar bottles with six character Chenghua reign mark in regular script inscribed horizontally on the ridge of the neck, have also been excavated at Zhushan. This one is unmarked but the five clawed dragons indicate imperial use.
Its shape is closely related to that of a 12th Century Korean celadon bottle decorated with whie flower sprays in the collection of the Museum of Oriental Ceramics in Osaka.
The Lichao Shilu documents (Veritable records of the Yi Dynasty) states that the Emperior is very fond of the gifts coming from Korea" and a Korean shape might have been used as a model for this bottle.