A blue and white faceted bottle, Tianqi period (1621-1627). Estimate $5,000 – $7,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Of slightly tapering square section with rounded shoulders and a narrow grooved neck, the bottle is decorated on alternating sides with scenes of acquatic birds or flowering branches. The base is unglazed. 10 ¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high - Lot 3501

Provenance: Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., London, 1982.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Stephen Little, Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period: 1620-1683, New York, 1984, p. 42, no. 5.

Notes: The shape of this bottle derives from European glass examples that were made to store alcohol on ships. The square shape of these glass versions was cleverly designed for easy stacking and efficient storage on board. The grooved neck on the present porcelain bottle imitates ridging for fitting a screw top but would also have facilitated tying down the stopper. A similar blue and white bottle with panels of floral designs is in the British Museum, London, and is illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p., 281, no. 11:12, where the author notes that while the form is based on a Western model, the decoration at this point in the 17th century is still strictly Chinese in character.

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.