A WUCAI INSCRIBED TEA-CADDY 17th century (3)A WUCAI INSCRIBED TEA-CADDY17th centuryThe vessel with cylindrical body bulging slightly at the side painted in underglaze blue and polychrome enamels with a cricket hopping amidst grass and aster flowers, the upper register with calligraphic inscription in zhuanshu script focusing on the joy of living in seclusion, with a later reed cover, shifuku, Japanese wood box. 9cm (3 1/2in) high. (3).十七世紀 青花釉里紅花蟲圖詩文小茶罐The inscription reads:雲飛嚴接翠連天，結個茅蓭不費錢。流水直通茶灶下，梅花開向臥床前。Which may be translated as:Drifting clouds join with the emerald sky, to weave a thatched hut costs nothing.Flowing water runs beneath the tea stove, the plum blossoms bloom before the bed.The present lot may have been made for the Japanese market, as the shape is similar to other Japanese chaire or tea-caddies; see for example, a Japanese pottery tea-caddy, 17th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (acc.no.29.100.664).Although trade between China and Japan by vessels of either nation was officially banned by Ming emperors during the 16th century, following the weakening of central authority and power, Chinese merchants regularly sailed from Nanjing, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen to Nagasaki; see for example the early 17th century 'Selden' map of China and East Asia, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, which shows the 'unofficial' lined trade routes between China and Japan (acc.no. MS.Selden supra 105). From the end of the Wanli reign until the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1644, Chinese merchants exported wares for use in the Japanese tea ceremony. These pieces became known to the Japanese as 'Ko-sometsuke' (literally 'old blue and white'). The feudal lords and their tea masters who ordered these wares required original designs for their personal use or limited number of followers. Although orders were small, the prices paid were very high.Compare with a similar wucai tea-caddy, 18th century, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 16 September 2017, lot 839.is_parse: 20230413image: yuzhan_bonhams_item.jpgsold_price_type: £