RARE TURQUOISE-GROUND SANCAI BALUSTER VASE LATE MING / EARLY QING

RARE TURQUOISE-GROUND SANCAI BALUSTER VASE LATE MING / EARLY QING, the long neck with elephant-mask handles beneath a flared top with a foliate-scroll band, the shoulder with a ruyi band above the rounded body with ruyi and lappet bands on the lower body, the foot unglazed, 40cm high Provenance: The Parrish-Watson Collection. The Walter Blumenthal Collection. The Bernard Gimbel Collection. The Warren E. Cox Collection. Christie's New York, 22nd March 1999, lot 287. Exhibited: The Arts of the Ming, Detroit Institute of Art, 1952, no.178 (dated at that time c.1400). The World in Colours, OCS Exhibition 2006, no.26. Literature: Cox, W., Far Eastern Ceramics, vol.III, no.4, December 1951. Cox, W., The Book of Pottery & Porcelain, 1970, pl. 135a & 135bh, also cover and frontispiece. Note: the form of this vase is inspired by Yuan Dynasty blue and white examples. It is very rare to find one in this sancai-style glazed palette. Only one other directly comparable vase is known, which was sold by Bonhams London, 16th May 2013, lot 58A. It was very similar in form, decoration and size but had a green ground, rather than turquoise.