This Fall, Christie’s offers a superb collection of 8 treasures from the early reign of emperor Wanli, all from the renowned London dealer Marchant.
Marchant: Eight Treasures for the Wanli Emperor offers discerning connoisseurs the opportunity to collect masterworks of Wanli period porcelain. Founded in 1925 by Samuel Sydney Marchant in London, Marchant is one of the world’s most venerable dealers of Chinese art and specializes in imperial Ming and Qing dynasty ceramics and jade carvings. Leading the sale is The Keswick ‘Hundred Deer’ Jar, formerly in the collection of William Keswick (1834-1912), who prominently displayed the jar on the mantle of the drawing room of his home Eastwick Park. Sale highlights include the exceptionally rare doucai ‘bajixiang’ bowl and a pair of large and superbly decorated wucai ‘garlic-mouth’ vases.
Full collection now available online for browsing!
The sale comprises eight pieces from the Wanli period,
all handled by the renowned London dealer and merchant.
The Wanli period, which ran from 1573 to 1620,
was an incredibly prosperous and innovative period,
not just in China, but all around the world.
It coincided with Shakespeare's plays,
Galileo's scientific innovations.
It was an incredibly important period.
The pieces come in a variety of forms and decoration,
including wuzai, douzai, and blue and white.
This is the Keswick Hundred Deer Jar.
It was hidden away for almost half a century.
The word for deer in Chinese, lu, suggests good fortune.
The hundred deer motif suggests shou tian bai lu,
which means, may you receive a hundred blessings
from heaven.
The presence of the white deer on this jar
is also auspicious and symbolizes longevity.
This large and impressive bowl is decorated
in the douzai palette with the eight Buddhist emblems.
It is incredibly rare with only three other examples
in existence, all in museum collections.
This mark basically says,
made in the Wanli period of the Great Ming Dynasty.
And all of the pieces in the sale have this mark.
So the mark is an imperial symbol
that shows that it's made in the Ming reign.
It is incredibly rare to have eight masterpieces
all from the early Wanli court.
You will never find examples such as this
on the open market and certainly not sold together.
They're all unparalleled in quality, innovation, technique.
It's really an amazing opportunity
to acquire pieces from this time.
