A RARE BLUE AND WHITE SQUARE BOTTLE VASE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

of square section, the angular facetted body rising from a flat base to a stepped shoulder formed from concentric circular platforms, sweeping up to a cylindrical ribbed neck, the body variously painted on each face with a rectangular panel enclosing a beast amongst landscape within chevron borders, one depicting a qilin below leafy plantain, the second with a recumbent horse looking back at a barren tree, the third with a tiger below a pine tree in a riverside landscape, and the last with a crouching ram reaching for water in stream, the top of the shoulder painted with foliate strapwork and lappet bands, enclosed by stylised ruyi scrolls at the four corners, the ribbed neck with four horizontal fillets, wood stand

Collection of Michel Beurdeley, Paris.
Christie's Paris, 7th December 2007, lot 126.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York.

Cécile and Michel Beurdeley, La Céramique chinoise: Le guide du connaisseur, Fribourg, 1978, pl. 79.

As visible in the catalogue photo, there are small chips to the mouth, corners and edges of the vase (the largest measuring approx 1 cm). Fine glaze crackle along the luting line.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This piece is a particularly finely painted example of square bottles made for the European market during the Transitional period. Modelled in the form of Dutch square-sectioned glass and stoneware bottles which were used for alcohol or oil for lamps, these bottles represent one of the earliest European shapes reproduced in China.

Another bottle vase of this type painted with figures in landscape, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, was included in the Museum's exhibition Eastern Ceramics and Other Works of Art from the Collection of Gerald Reitlinger, Oxford, 1981, cat. no. 45; one from the British Museum, London, was included in the exhibition Passion for Porcelain. Masterpieces of Ceramics from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, National Museum of China, Beijing, 2012, pl. 009, illustrated together with a Dutch glass bottle excavated in Rijswijk, The Netherlands, p. 95, fig. 1; and a third, made for the Portuguese market, in the Fundação Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, was included in the exhibition Do Tejo aos Mares da China. Uma Epopeia Portuguesa, Palácio Nacional de Queluz, Queluz, 1991, cat. no. 47. See also a less-finely painted example in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Ming-Qing export porcelain from the Palace Museum and the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2015, pl. 52; and another in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition Transitional Wares and their Forerunners, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 49, together with an early Qing dynasty example, cat. no. 50.