Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 7 Nov 2019
A Ming-style blue and white bottle vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Lot 111. A Ming-style blue and white bottle vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 32cm (12 1/2in) high. Estimate: £10,000 - £15,000. Sold for £ 16,312 (€ 19,043). Photo: Bonhams.
The globular body rising from a short spreading foot to a tall elegant waisted neck, finely painted in rich 'heaped and piled' cobalt-blue tones with a composite flower scroll band, all between lotus lappet and 'classic' scroll bands at the base and a ruyi-band at the shoulder, the neck with stiff plantain leaf and key-fret bands.
Provenance: a European private collection.
Note: A closely-related example in the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.233; one in the Shanghai Museum is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol.15, Shanghai, 2000, pl.2; four vases are illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, vol.III, London, 1986, pl.2564.
Compare with a very similar blue and white vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2019, lot 527.