Lot 610. A blue and white 'figural' garlic-neck bottle vase, Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period (1628-1644). Height 14 1/2  in., 37 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 25,000 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the compressed globular body supported on a straight foot, tapering to a waisted neck with a raised bulb below a flared mouth, finely painted in brilliant shades of cobalt with a lush landscape framing an elderly man giving directions to a grateful soldier, accompanied by five flag bearers, one on horseback, above a band of petal lappets and below a floral scroll band at the shoulder, the neck with sprays of stylized tulips, the bulb with a meandering lotus scroll, the recessed base glazed white.

Provenance: C. C. Lai Antiques, Toronto, 1960s-1980s, and thence by descent.

Note: The present vase belongs to a group of similarly shaped vessels painted with figural scenes and stylized tulips, which may suggest that they were made for or influenced by the Dutch market. See a similar example exhibited in Transitional Wares and Their Forerunners, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1981, cat. no. 70, where it is noted that a vase of this type appears in Still Life with a Pilgrim Flask, Candlestick, Porcelain Vase and Fruit by Willem Kalf, likely painted before 1646. A similar vase is also illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The Transitional Period 1620-1683: A Selection from the Michael Butler Collection, Leeuwarden, 1986, pl. 72, where it is noted that the form originates in 16th century Isnik ceramics. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019