Lot 1679. A pair of gilt-decorated blue-ground bottle vases, Guangxu six-character marks in gilding and of the period (1875-1908); 14½ in. (36.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000. Price realised USD 56,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.  

Both decorated with a pair of dragons confronted on a flaming pearl amidst flames and clouds, between a band of waves at the base and a band of tightly scrolled foliage incorporating large blossoms and shou characters at the shoulder, the neck with a further dragon and pearl below a ruyi band, all in gilt against a deep blue ground.  

Provenance: Eugene O. Perkins Collection; Christie's, New York, 2 June 1989, lot 86.

Note: A similar pair of vases with Guangxu marks was sold in these rooms, 20 March 2001, lot 248.

Compare, also, a vase of the same shape with a Guangxu mark, but with gilt decoration on a mirror-black ground, from the National Palace Museum, illustrated by van Oort, Chinese Porcelain of the 19th and 20th Centuries, The Netherlands, 1977, pl. 93.