Page 22 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

610
A BLUE AND WHITE ‘FIGURAL’
GARLIC-NECK BOTTLE VASE
MING DYNASTY, CHONGZHEN
PERIOD

the compressed globular body supported on
a straight foot, tapering to a waisted neck
with a raised bulb below a flared mouth, finely
painted in brilliant shades of cobalt with a
lush landscape framing an elderly man giving
directions to a grateful soldier, accompanied
by five flag bearers, one on horseback, above a
band of petal lappets and below a floral scroll
band at the shoulder, the neck with sprays of
stylized tulips, the bulb with a meandering lotus
scroll, the recessed base glazed white
Height 14½ in., 37 cm
PROVENANCE
C. C. Lai Antiques, Toronto, 1960s-1980s, and
thence by descent.
The present vase belongs to a group of similarly
shaped vessels painted with figural scenes
and stylized tulips, which may suggest that
they were made for or influenced by the Dutch
market. See a similar example exhibited in
Transitional Wares and Their Forerunners, Hong
Kong Museum of Art, 1981, cat. no. 70, where it
is noted that a vase of this type appears in Still
Life with a Pilgrim Flask, Candlestick, Porcelain
Vase and Fruit by Willem Kalf, likely painted
before 1646. A similar vase is also illustrated
in Chinese Porcelain: The Transitional Period
1620-1683: A Selection from the Michael Butler
Collection, Leeuwarden, 1986, pl. 72, where it is
noted that the form originates in 16th century
Isnik ceramics.

$ 20,000-30,000

明崇禎 青花人物故事圖長頸瓶
來源
C. C. Lai Antiques，多倫多，1960至1980年代，
此後家族傳承

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