A Rare Annamese Blue and White Glazed Porcelain Box and Cover15th-16th CenturyThe underglaze blue and white box decorated on the top cover with two birds surrounded by leaves and grasses in a double blue circle with blue lappets, the sides of the cover with alternating floral scrolls and rectangular boxes of florals, the bottom of the box mirroring the sides of the top with the same underglaze blue designs, the base unglazed. Diameter 5 3/4 inches. Note:The name of Annam has been used to refer to Vietnam but was actually specific to a 30,000 square mile area with Hanoi as its center. It was occupied by the Chinese from 1400-1428 and gave rise to this type of box as well as ewers, vases and others that utilized both imported and domestic cobalt. The wares, themselves, were related in shape and design to their Chinese counterparts of the 14th and 15th centuries. This box with its combination of birds and florals is unusual since "(of) the decorative motifs, floral types are by far the most common. Birds, fish and other animals occur but are far rarer." Adrian M. Joseph, Chinese and Annamese Ceramics, Hugh Moss Publishing Ltd (1973) at page 138. For an example of an Annamese guan from the same period, see Sothebys New York 18 March 2021, lot 897 (Realized price USD 21,500).C Property from the Collection of Steven J. Harvis