50.
A WUCAI ENAMELLED GARLIC-MOUTH BOTTLE VASE, SUANTOUPING
Qing dynasty, circa 1660-1670
28,4 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
Inv. n. 3712.
The bottle vase decorated in wucai palette is potted with a long-flared neck surmounted by a garlic-bulb shaped mouth. This form is in continuation of related vases of the Wanli period. The neck is decorated with two archaistic chi-dragons predominantly in aubergine and yellow enamels amidst dense blossoming leafy lotus scrolls, below the mouth with leafy peony scrolls. The body shows a sage holding a gnarled staff, standing beside three boys each holding a bamboo ‘dragonfly’ (zhuqingting); the sage gesturing at another sage standing opposite with a rocky landscape between them; all amidst pines and other trees with the scene divided by a large scrolling clouds.
A wucai double-gourd vase with a closely related decoration separated over the two gourd sections, Xuande mark, late seventeenth century, from the Grandidier Collection, is in Musée Guimet (inv. n. G 4803); compare also a wucai vase of a similar form but different design, late seventeenth century, from the Grandidier Collection in Musée Guimet (inv n. G 5188).
