Blue and white wares of the Chenghua period are extremely rare. Even rarer are those of such exceptional quality, upright form and large size. Chenghua porcelain in general displays a very distinct character both in terms of material and style of decoration. Initially heavily influenced by the attractive style of the Xuande reign, the Chenghua potters gradually developed their own distinctive sophisticated style by making a deliberate move away from earlier models, perhaps most evident in the idiosyncratic forms and designs they developed. The present vase is a fine and unique example of such transformation; while its motifs and form are rooted in traditions established from the beginnings of the Ming dynasty, they are presented in an unusual yet strikingly elegant manner. Veiled with a lustrous silky glaze, this vase can be identified as a mid-Chenghua period creation. ‘Softer’ to the touch than its predecessors, it marks a departure from the crisp and glossy glazes of the finest Xuande wares and towards the muted, velvety glaze of the famous Chenghua palace bowls.

The depiction of the lotus on this vase, with voluminous blooms occasionally accentuated by a ruyi head in the centre, closely follows earlier examples from the interregnum period. The tones of the cobalt used on interregnum porcelain, however, are oftent.mes s greyer than their Chenghua counterparts. See a double-gourd vase decorated with a similar continuous scroll of lotus, excavated from the interregnum stratum in the Ming imperial kiln site in 2014, included in the exhibition Refilling the Interregnum: Newly Discovered Imperial Porcelains from Zhengtong, Jingtai and Tianshun Reigns (1436-1464) of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2019, cat. no. 22. With these new archaeological discoveries, some of the ceramics traditionally attributed to the Chenghua period can probably be re-dated to the interregnum period. A closely related double-gourd vase in the Tokyo National Museum, for instance, is now believed to be from the Zhengtong period (ibid., pp. 33-35, fig. 41), but another example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, attributed to the Chenghua period by Geng Baochang in Ming Qing ciqi jiandin [Appraisal of Ming and Qing Porcelains] (Hong Kong, 1993, fig. 167) remains to be categorised as Chenghua in Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty I, Beijing, 2016, pl. 9 (fig. 1).

The design of the plantain leaves and the double-outlined lingzhi scroll collaring the neck of the present vase are reminiscent of earlier ceramics. A meiping decorated with vibrant double-outlined foliate scrolls between plantain leaves, was excavated together with its cover, and published in Refilling the Interregnum, op.cit., cat. no. 21. A closely related pair of meiping, with glaze and cobalt closer to the Xuande type, is preserved in private hands. The pair from the collects ion of Robert C. Bruce, was sold in our London rooms, 12th May 1953, lot 87, one of which entered the H.R.N. Norton and J.T. Tai collects ions, and sold in our London rooms, 5th November 1963, lot 160, and again in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2622, the other sold in our London rooms 1st/2nd April 1974, lot 197, and again in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 18, from the British Rail Pension Fund.

Each concise yet freely painted stroke is visible on the decoration of this vase and reflects the intentional and derivative nature of the changing aesthetic of the era. By the mid-15th century, the supply of Lajiward cobalt that for decades had been imported from the Middle East was nearing exhaustion. As a result, the government began to mine the domestic Bo Tang mine in Jingdezhen. This elegant mid-hue pigment, with multiple rich and light distinct layers, was distinctively different from the deep and intense colour characteristic of early-Ming porcelain. Ink-like in texture and more even than the foreign type, the pigment was devoid of ‘heaping and piling’; thus designs that highlighted the beauty of this type of cobalt were developed. The individually rendered lotus petals and the carefully shaded stiff leaves of the present piece point to the control craft.mes n were able to exert over the medium, and the resulting ink painting effect they were able to achieve.

The minor alterations to the classic yuhuchun form result in a decidedly different product. The shape was favoured by the Hongwu Emperor and subsequently adorned with a variety of decorative bands, a style that continued to be developed and modified in the succeeding Yongle and Xuande reigns. The elegant silhouette of the present vase is achieved through two modifications from its predecessors: a taller splayed foot with a countersunk stepped base and a slightly higher swell of the body. To complement its streamlined form, the craftsman has skilfully incorporated white negative space as an important design element in order to capture an overall fresh sense of harmony and modernity.

It is notable that the trio of bands on the neck, namely the tightly drawn stiff leaves, the foliate scroll and ruyi heads, is rarely found on Ming vases yet was adopted as the standard design for yuhuchunping in the 18th century; only one other Yongle vase adorned with a similar scheme, its body painted with a garden of banana leaves, bamboo and rocks, appears to have been published, from the Qing court collects ion, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and included in the Museum’s exhibition Imperial Porcelains from the reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, 2015, cat. no. 103. Notably, this Yongle vase also has a short-flared foot, which is more akin to that of the present vase and notably distinct from the commonly used straight foot.

Chenghua period vessels are rare, with the majority of extant examples consisting of smaller utility vessels such as bowl and dishes. Liu Xinyuan describes the volume of fragments recovered from the site of the Ming imperial kilns at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, where the Chenghua fragments equal less than half those unearthed from the Xuande stratum, even though the latter period was much shorter (see Liu Xinyuan, 'Reconstructing Chenghua Porcelain from Historical Records', The Emperor's Broken china: Reconstructing Chenghua Porcelain, Replica Shoes 's London, 1995, p. 11).

For other large vessels made in the Chenghua period, see a bottle vase painted with phoenix among lotus scrolls attributed to the late Chenghua period, published in The Emperor's Broken china, op.cit., pl. 47, together with a fragmentary ewer, painted in vivid cobalt blue and attributed to the mid Chenghua period, pl. 48. Compare also a meiping and a jar, both painted with plantain leaves and attributed to the Chenghua period, included in Geng Baochang, op.cit., pp. 88-89, figs 150 and 152; and a pear-shape vase decorated with similarly rendered lotus scrolls, on a tall flared foot and flanked with handles, from the collects ion of L.A. Basmadgieff, sold in our London rooms, 11th December 1979, lot 278, and again in these rooms, 8th April 2011, lot 3199.

明成化青花瓷器，極其珍罕，如此碩大立件，更無同例者可作媲美。成化瓷器胎質、紋飾，特點鮮明。早期所製，與宣德青花相似，後逐漸發展出本朝獨特的風格，創造當朝獨有品種。本品玉壺春瓶，胎體細膩純淨，造型、紋飾展現前朝之風。其釉面豐腴瑩潤，乾淨如玉，滑不溜手，雖富光澤，宣德朝瓷器特有釉光已不復見，質感柔美仿如當朝宮盌，更見玲瓏優雅，獨特超群。

此瓶以纏枝蓮紋為主飾，盛綻花兒飽滿，蓮心偶綴如意雲頭，伴以卷延枝葉，清麗脫俗。相類畫風，成化以前已有，但正統至天順年間之青花發色偏灰，鮮達此瓶上所繪淡雅。對比2014年景德鎮御窰遺址出土正統葫蘆瓶，所繪纏枝蓮紋與此有共通之處，收錄在《填空補白II：考古新發現明正統、景泰、天順御窰瓷器》，香港，2019年，編號22。隨著考古出土資料的發表，部分傳統斷為成化早期作品，年代或可上推至空白期三朝，如東京國立博物館所藏相類葫蘆瓶，應製於正統年間，而非成化（同上註，頁17-18，圖41）。北京故宮藏纏枝蓮紋葫蘆瓶（圖一），與出土葫蘆瓶甚為接近，耿寶昌在著作《明清瓷器鑑定》中歸入成化年製（香港，1993年，圖167），在《明代成化御窰瓷器：景德鎮御窰遺址出土與故宮博物院藏傳世瓷器（上）》一書中，斷代仍為成化，北京，2016年，圖版9。

玉壺春瓶頸蕉葉紋和靈芝的雙鉤繪風，或從年代略早之青花卷草紋梅瓶尋得啓思。考古出土帶蓋梅瓶，收錄在《填空補白II》，前述出處，編號21。傳世有一對例，所用鈷藍上承宣窰特色，原屬 Robert C. Bruce 珍藏，其中一瓶轉入 H.R.N. Norton 及戴潤齋收藏，自1953年起，曾三度於倫敦蘇富比拍賣，最近一次售於香港蘇富比2010年10月8日，編號2622。另一瓶則初售於倫敦蘇富比1974年4月1/2日，編號197，後為英國鐵路基金會所藏，再於1989年5月16日經香港蘇富比拍出，編號18。

本瓶紋飾繪畫自俐落，反映了時代及審美觀的演變。十五世紀中葉，進口鈷料枯竭，御器廠開始採用國產鈷料「平等青」。「平等青」又稱「陂塘青」，產於今江西樂平一帶。《江西大志．陶書》曰：「舊陂塘青產於本府樂平一方，嘉靖中，樂平格殺，遂塞。」平等青料因含鐵量較少，所呈之色溫潤淡雅，清澈明亮，正如本器之釉色，發色穩定，紋飾細節濃淡得宜，層次分明，不見早期蘇麻離青發色之明艷，亦不見因鈷料含鐵元素高而殘留的鐵鏽斑。此瓶上所繪之紋飾，線條多變，蓮花花瓣、枝葉鉤勒瀟灑自然，筆趣盎然，別有水墨畫之韻。

經典玉壺春瓶曲線之變化，造就了各朝的時代特色。明洪武帝偏愛玉壺春瓶，當朝玉壺春瓶上之紋飾變化多端，延續至永樂、宣德朝。與前朝玉壺春瓶相比，此器造型優雅，圈足稍高外撇，足內有台階，器腹稍寬下垂；紋飾層次分明，工匠巧以留白之處，讓精簡的弧線輪廓與紋飾和諧融洽，充滿時代氣息。

本瓶頸繪三層紋飾，蕉葉紋、卷草紋及下垂如意雲頭紋。此類紋飾為十八世紀玉壺春瓶上之標準紋飾，少見於明朝器。然清宮舊藏一例明永樂玉壺春瓶，器腹通景繪竹石、芭蕉及花草欄杆，頸飾相同紋飾，曾展於《明代洪武永樂御窰瓷器：景德鎮御窰遺址出土與故宮博物院藏傳世瓷器對比》，北京，2015年，圖版103；此永樂例足圈同樣外撇，與本拍品甚為相似，有別於標準器之直足。

成化瓷器玲瓏俊雅，以小件居多。陶瓷考古專家劉新園曾以景德鎮珠山明御址出土宣德與成化瓷片數量相比較，成化一朝帝祚為宣德者二倍有餘，然出土破片及殘件數量卻未及後者一半，詳見劉新園，〈成化窰燒造記錄考〉，《The Emperor's Broken china: Reconstructing Chenghua Porcelain》，倫敦蘇富比，1995年，頁11。同樣，此比例亦反映於兩朝傳世品數量上。

其他成化立件，可參考一青花鳳穿蓮紋長頸瓶，斷代成化晚期，載於《The Emperor's Broken china》，前述出處，圖版47，並錄發色較濃之成化中期執壺殘件，圖版48。還可參見青花攜琴訪友梅瓶及八仙罐，均綴蕉葉紋，見耿寶昌，前述出處，頁88-89，圖150、152。另可比較 L.A. Basmadgieff 舊藏青花雙耳瓶，兩度經蘇富比拍出，倫敦1979年12月11日，編號278，及香港2011年4月8日，編號3199。

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