Lot 62. An iron-red enamelled and gilt bottle-vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 29.7cm (11 3/4in) high.. Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000. Sold for £ 10,062 (€ 11,747). Photo: Bonhams. 

Of elegant pear shape supported on a short spreading foot, boldly decorated around the body in iron-red with spiralling lines, the bulbous neck with a band of gilt chrysanthemums.

Property from the Collection of John J. Studzinski, CBE

Provenance: Vanderven Oriental Art, 's-Hertogenbosch 
John J. P. Studzinski, CBE.

Note: The present lot is interesting for its mixture of styles. The shape of the vase with the bulge in the neck is based ultimately on Persian metal and ceramic models and appears frequently from the beginning of the transitional period between the end of the Ming dynasty and beginning of the Qing dynasty from about 1635. Various versions of pear-shaped vases are among the most popular form of export porcelain of the Kangxi period. The spiral-shaped decoration could possibly have been derived from 17th century Venetian latticino glass in which white enamel threads were made to swirl by turning the glass. The chrysanthemums are also reminiscent of the Japanese kiku emblem.

For a similar pair of iron-red and gilt bottle vases, Kangxi, see E.Strober, La maladie de porcelaine: East Asian Porcelain from the Collection of Augustus the Strong, Leipzig, 2001, pp.84-85, no.35. See another very similar vase, Kangxi, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by C.Le Corbeiller and A.C.Frelinghuysen, Chinese Export Porcelain, New York, 2003, p.11. See also a very similar bottle vase, Kangxi, illustrated by R.W.Fuchs II and D.S.Howard, Made in China: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection, Winterthur, 2005, no.106.