A matched pair of Gu-shaped wucai vases, Transition, 17th Century.

Purchased from Christie’s New York, October 2013, “Arbiters of Style: The Collection of Anthony Hail & Charles Posey”. Acquired from the House of Sung, San Francisco, c. 1970.
Anthony Hail was an elder statesman of the US interior design scene who influenced dozens of interior designers with his classical approach and for a time worked in London for Vogue magazine. He effectively rose to icon status in the design world of the 1960’s, when he spent much of his time with Andy Warhol

The Avalon Collection.

This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.

Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.

For a transitional wucai vase with an interior decoration to the neck – but stylised dragons – see “ The Hodroff Collection Chinese Export Chinese Export Porcelain From The Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff”, Christie’s New York, 24 January 2007, Lot 39.