Lot 17
17
A RARE SMALL LATE MING BLUE AND WHITE RECTANGULAR FLASK AND STOPPER
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A RARE SMALL LATE MING BLUE AND WHITE RECTANGULAR FLASK AND STOPPER

SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY

Details
A RARE SMALL LATE MING BLUE AND WHITE RECTANGULAR FLASK AND STOPPER
SECOND QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY
Of square section and with a short cylindrical spout, painted on the sides with four boys at play in a terraced garden, the shoulders with four butterflies divided by foliage below two lotus flowers around the neck, the domed stopper with a screw stem, minor foot rim chip
6¾ in. (17 cm.) high
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This shape is inspired by a European prototype and may have been copying the Dutch glass and stoneware bottles which were used on ships in the 17th and 18th Centuries to transport alcoholic beverages and oil for lighting lamps. See J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the Briitish Museum, London, 2001, pp. 384 and 385, no. 12:79 for a larger bottle of this form. The author mentions that another example, with a late 17th Century Dutch silver mount, is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It would appear that a bottle of this size is extremely rare.

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