A Very Rare Yuan Blue And White Pear-Shaped 'Dragon' Vase, Yuhuchunping, Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

The full, pear-shaped body raised straight from the flat base, rising to a slender neck and everted trumpet mouth, freely painted in vivid tones of purplish-blue cobaltwith a powerful striding three-clawed dragon among ruyi-shaped clouds. Striding dragon is a very effective motif applied to the swelling bodies of pear-shaped vaseyuhuchun ping such as the current example, but are relatively rare.  The base is left unglazed and bamboo knife slice technique typical of that period is visible at the base.