A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER
A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER
A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER
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A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER
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A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER

THE PORCELAIN LATE MING DYNASTY, WANLI PERIOD (1573-1620) OR TIANQI PERIOD (1621-1627), THE MOUNTS PROBABLY ENGLISH, EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Details
A JAMES I SILVER-GILT MOUNTED CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE AND COVER
THE PORCELAIN LATE MING DYNASTY, WANLI PERIOD (1573-1620) OR TIANQI PERIOD (1621-1627), THE MOUNTS PROBABLY ENGLISH, EARLY 17TH CENTURY
The baluster-form bottle painted to the lower body with cranes in four circular reserves spaced by incised lattice, the shoulder with a band of Arabic inscriptions below scrolling flowers and foliage, the neck painted with knots and tassels, the plain neck band prick engraved with a coat-of-arms, the screw-off domed cover with ring finial, apparently unmarked
10 ½ in. (26.7 cm.) high
The Persian inscription consists of a ruba'i (quatrain) by Umar Khayyam which can translate to:
'Mankind is like a sorahi (a long-necked bottle) [and] the soul like wine. The body is like a ney (reed, simple flute) [with] a voice within. Khayyam, do you know what a mortal is? A fanus (a lantern which revolves by the smoke of the candle in it) with a light within.'
Provenance
With J.J. Klejman, New York, by May 1968.
The Collection of Evelyn Annenberg Hall; Christie's, New York, 29 March 2006, lot 101.
Literature
T. Schroder, Renaissance and Baroque Silver, Mounted Porcelain and Ruby Glass from the Zilkha Collection, London, 2012, cat. no. 54, pp. 230-231.

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Lot Essay

This bottle was most likely intended for the Middle Eastern market, as evidenced by the Persian inscription around the shoulder, Consisting of a ruba'i (quatrain) by Umar Khayyam (1048-1131) a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and poet.
A bottle with an identical inscription is illustrated in J. Welsh, Oriental Porcelain, London, 2004, cat. no. 1. Similar examples of Chinese porcelain intended for the Middle Eastern market can be found in the collection of the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, and another similar bottle, not mounted and with a full neck, is illustrated in D. Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, New York, 1978, p. 213, no. 233.

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