This baluster vase with small neck comes from a group known as “windswept” and is loosely painted with a scholarly Immortal in flowing robes being approached by a boy attendant who is wearing a long belted robe with a long scroll under his arm, in a landscape with lingzhi, plantains and a willow tree among formal scrolling clouds in a darker blue, the base with stiff leaves, the neck with a lotus and a peach spray. The pale bluish white glaze has a slight brown crackle.

A number of similar vases survive, all traditionally associated with the 15th century. A blue and white stem bowl in the same “windswept” style was excavated among the Zhengtong (1436-1449) to Tianshun (1457-1464) remains at Dongsiling, Jingdezhen, where the earlier vases of meiping shape were shown to have plumper, less elongated, forms. Both Norton and Sparks at the time of purchase thought it to be late 14th century.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 26

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from John Sparks, 9 October 1952 (£110)

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2