A blue and white bottle vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate $6,000 – $8,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The compressed, faceted body is decorated with cartouches of figures, landscapes or 'antiques' on a 'cracked-ice' ground, and the slender, slightly flaring neck has small florets enclosed by lappet bands. The vase is raised on a tall, faceted foot and is inscribed on the base with a 'G´. 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm.) high - Lot 3584

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 1980.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The 'G' mark on the base of this bottle vase appears on a small group of Kangxi-period wares decorated in underglaze blue, as well as in the famille verte palette. There is no evidence as to whether the 'G’ refers to an individual who privately ordered the wares or to a larger trading company. Christiaan Jörg supports the theory of the 'G’ belonging to a particular person, citing the similar use of a single initial to a group of blue and white Japanese apothecary bottles (see Christiaan J.A. Jörg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 1997, p. 259). A pair of 'G'-marked bottles with a similar pattern to the present vase, but decorated in the famille verte palette, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, is illustrated in ibid., p. 165, no. 181.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.