of archaic bronze form, the central bulbous section rising from a flared foot to a tall trumpet neck flaring widely at the rim, carved through layers of cinnabar-red lacquer on the exterior with gnarled tree branches issuing lush prunus blooms, the interior similarly decorated with a frieze of the same design, lacquered black on the base and inscribed in red with a six-character reign mark

Christie's London, 9th June 1975, lot 122

This extremely rare vase, probably designed as a flower vase, is luxuriantly carved with a sumptuous design of dense prunus flowers. The form is derived from an archaic bronze zun or gu vessel, but it is diminutive in size, suitable for adorning a scholar’s table. Prunus decoration is a popular one in Wanli lacquer. For a brushpot carved with prunus in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Zhongguo qiqi quanji [The complete collection of Chinese lacquer], Fujian, 1995, p. 55, no. 54. See also a small lacquer box and cover carved with birds and prunus in the British Museum, illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl. 33.

Prunus was also a popular motif on Imperial porcelain created at the Jingdezhen kilns in the Wanli period. A Wanli reign-marked blue and white bottle vase painted with a rich design of prunus is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Beijing, 2000, pl. 165.