A Chinese 17th Century Dehua / Blanc de Chine Porcelain Meiping Vase (Ex. Museum). Heavily-potted and coated in a very finely-crackled ivory coloured glaze. It has a short vertical mouth and a wide splayed foot. Dehua kilns, Fujian province. 17th century (c. 1650 - 1700). Height 24 cm (9.5 inches). There are what appear to be firing faults to the upper body and mouth: a firing crack that surrounds the inner mouth extending to part of the shoulder and some unusual round areas that appear to have "lifted". Notwithstanding this, condition is good.

Provenance: this vase bears a museum inventory number “36-1944” and "SUNG". Its full number is actually “BR-36-1944” and it was formally part of The Brooke Robinson Collection of Asian Art formerly housed at Dudley Museum. Brooke Robinson (1836–1911) was a British Conservative Party politician, who was MP for Dudley and held a number of public posts including that of County Coroner for Dudley. He also was an art collector and benefactor whose legacy was the Town Hall and a museum in the town of Dudley. Brooke Robinson left a sum of money as well as his collection of art, furniture, ceramics, and other items for the benefit of the town of Dudley. The money was eventually used to construct the Town Hall, a Coroner's Court and a museum. The museum, known as the Brooke Robinson Museum, opened on 18 May 1931 with, as far as we can tell, the Trustees continuing to acquire pieces to add to the collection. It would appear that when added to the collection, there was little knowledge of such wares and so this vase was misattributed to the Song Dynasty.

Also from the collection of the late Brian Page (1938-2018), the well-known Oriental art and antiques dealer from Brighton.