Rare Chinese Ming Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain Ewer. With multiple inventory/exhibition labels on the bottom of the ewer, as well as under the lid. Provenance: Eugene Bernat collection (collection label underneath lid). In the early 1900's, Eugene Bernat became pioneer collectors in America of early Chinese ceramics, forming one of the most important private assemblages in this country. In 1981, Sotheby's New York had an auction of 172 pieces of porcelain and wares from the Sung Period featuring pieces from the Eugene Bernat collection. The New York Times wrote of the sale on August 14, 1981, "The spectacular results at Sotheby's in New York are attributed in part to the sale of the collection of Eugene and Elva Bernat, an assemblage that Sotheby's described as the finest in Chinese ceramics ever auctioned in the United States. The sale, last Nov. 7, brought $3.3 million, almost double Sotheby's most optimistic expectations." The pear-shaped body with two openwork panels pierced with a honeycomb pattern, revealing a body painted with stylised floral motifs, all below stylised foliage and flower-heads reserved on a washed-blue ground. Height: 9.5 in.