A large and rare green-glazed 'lotus' vase, Northern and Southern dynasties

The Bai Ma Xuan Collection.

Sotheby's New York, 22nd September 2005, lot 6.

No other vase of this form and design seems to have been published. For a related vase of a more elaborate design, discovered from a Southern Qi dynasty (479-502) tomb in Wuchang, Hubei province, see Ye Zhemin, Zhongguo taoci shi / History of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Beijing, 2011, p. 106, fig. 5-17, where the author further comments that Southern celadons typically feature jade-green and grayish-green hues, while Northern celadons more commonly show bluish-green or yellowish-green (olive-green) tones (pp 111-112). The lotus petal decoration found around the body of the present vessel is characteristic of wares during this time, and can be found on vessels of other forms. For jars similarly decorated with lotus lappets, see one in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics], vol. 4: Sanguo, Liangjin, Nanbeichao [Three Kingdoms, Jin dynasty and Northern and Southern Dynasties], Shanghai, 2000, fig. 228; one excavated in 1989 from a tomb located in Tangxiazhen in Rui'an city, Zhejiang province, illustrated in ibid., fig. 226; and another, excavated in 1985, unearthed in Xinchuncun within Shaoxin, Zhejiang province, illustrated in ibid., fig. 231. See also a very rare green-glazed 'lotus' vase of a different form, sold twice in these rooms, first on 23rd September 2004, lot 202, and recently on 25th March 2026, lot 130.