14.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ BOTTLE VASE
Ming dynasty, second half of the 16th century
30,6 cm high.
Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 1595.
The present vase is rare in its combination of form and design. The body is painted with playful Buddhist lions amidst leafy and blossoming lotus scrolls, below the neck decorated with a foliate lotus scroll border. The lotus blossoms are each centred with a ruyi-head, symbolising the wish for long life. A lion represents the Buddha’s teachings and lotus, one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, symbolises purity.
Closely related decoration of Buddhist lions and lotus blossoms can be seen on two bowls, late 16th/ early 17th century in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul (R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, 3 voll., London 1986, nn. 1283-1284).
A very similar bottle vase, with great part of the neck truncated, is in the Amaral Cabral Collection, Lisbon (M.A. Pinto de Matos, Azul e branco da China. Porcelana ao tempo dos descobrimentos. Colecção Amaral Cabral, Lisbon 1997. , p. 86, n. 23: the author dates it to Jiajing period).
