MING DYNASTY XUANDE BLUE AND WHITE  DOUBLE DRAGON  LARGE VASE
Ming Dynasty Imperial six character marked and period Xuande Double Dragon vase. The vase has rich 15th century dark sapphire color. Xuande blue and white used a slip of glaze before applying the cobalt. The glaze is fine with a clear bluish tint and tiny pits and foot is has biscuit flush. The six character Xuande mark is witten on the neck. Xuande blue and white porcelain was very innovative and in styles and forms. The vase has the black heaping and piling spots that melts into the glaze and the edges are sharp where they break the surface. The late14th and 15th century imported sumali / su-ni-bo / smalt cobalt color is a rich blue with a blackish tone that is distinct from the dull grayish purplish tone of the domestic chinese cobalt. Xuande potters applied thin slip of glaze before applying the cobalt. Usually the Xuande potter did not refine or grind the cobalt enough to eliminate the heaping and piling effect. The sumali / smalt cobalt alone would run uncontrollably and had to be mixed with the Chinese domestic cobalt to stabilize it. Some say the sumali / smalt imported cobalt was used up at the end of the 15th century but there are some early 16th century pieces that used this cobalt. This beautiful color and tone of the sumali / smalt imported cobalt cannot be duplicated and this is very important to authenticate late 14th and 15th century blue and white. Very few photographs capture the different cobalt colors and tone correctly in the book by He Li Chinese Ceramics plate 409 and Sotheby 30 years in Hong Kong Plate 245, the blue color and tone are good examples of the color and tone when the two cobalts were mixed together. Even today they are unsure which country in the middle east this cobalt was imported from. The Xuande blue and white is very sought after by collectors. Measures 19 inches 48 cm. Tall