A Wucai-decorated phoenix tail vase


Kangxi periodMolded with a tall trumpet neck and a body of inverted pear form that flares outward above a recessed foot ring, the walls expertly painted in well-preserved enamels with two scenes form the Romance of the Western Chamber (Xixiangji), separated by an enameled leiwen band at the base of the neck and bordered with thin double lines drawn in underglaze blue beneath a lustrous glaze applied to all surfaces except the foot pad.14 1/2in (36.7cm) high
|Provenance Sotheby's, London, 11 May 2016, lot 184Joseph M. Morpurgo CollectionMarchant, London (according to label)The vase illustrates two scenes from the drama Romance of the Western Chamber (Xixiangji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu: on the trumpet neck the poor scholar Zhang Sheng climbs over the wall of a Buddhist monastery to meet the his love, Cui Yingying accompanied by her servant. On the lower body, Zhang Shang, about leave for Beijing to study for the imperial examinations, waits on his horse at the Ten-mile Rest Pavilion (shili chang tang) to bid farewell to Cui Yingying being wheeled away in a two-wheel cart in the opposite direction.