Lot 3000. A very rare blue and white ‘bird and flower’ bottle vase, Wanli period (1573-1619); 10 1/4 in. (26 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 180,000 - HKD 250,000. Price realised HKD 400,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The vase is painted around the body with birds and flowers, between a band of plantain leaves above and a band of upright stylised petals below. The neck is further painted with a lotus scroll below a band of key frets on the lipped rim. The splayed foot is encircled by a floral scroll; Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, Shikoku, acquired in the Edo period (1603-1868)

Note: An identical vase, dated to the Wanli period, is in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 168 (fig. 1), where it is stated that the unusual shape of the vase can be seen as a prototype of mallet vases made during the Qing dynasty.

A blue and white ‘bird and flower’ bottle vase, Wanli period (1573-1619), Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing