Details
TWO APOTHECARY BOTTLES
KANGXI PERIOD
Each globular body decorated with an overall lotus vine pattern having numerous small, curling leaves in shades of iron-red, the neck with a border of stiff upright leaves beneath a tasselled collar
9 and 10¼ in. (22.8 and 26 cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

A European form used for liquid medicines and made in both China and Japan, most often in the 17th century, these bottles were sometimes labelled with the names of potential contents or of an owner. D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, London, 1994, p. 204 notes that the 'double rings enabled a skin or parchment strip to be tied with a thong over the mouth which could then be sealed with wax.'

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