Asset number
235793001
Description
A pair of porcelain bottles, each with a round body and long tubular neck with a bulge in the middle and standing on a thick foot ring. Painted in underglaze blue in 'transitional' style. One bottle decorated around the lower bulb with a gentleman, dressed in scholarly round-necked robes and winged hat, holding a tally of office in his left hand, approached by a servant holding a tray on which is placed an arrow vase, containing three arrows. Behind the central figure are two servants holding large ceremonial fans on long poles and behind these two further servants carrying insignia of office on long poles, all set in a garden lanscape and a bank of swirling clouds. Three Western-style flowers, possibly tulips, adorn the neck and are repeated around the top. The base glaze but unmarked. The second bottle painted on one side with four figures gathered around a saddled horse with a lame leg. One man holds a folded parasol, another the horse's reigns, a third rests on his staff and the fourth holds a stick out towards the horse. On the other side, a scholar wearing an official winged gauze cap, attended by a servant holding a fan, is engaged in conversation with another man wearing a brimmed hat, two further servants stand aside holding gifts, all set in a landscape with a bank of swirling clouds. The neck decorated as the other bottle, the base glazed but unmarked.
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