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.
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.