An underglaze-blue and copper-red 'magpies and prunus' bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

American Private Collection.

Marchant, London, 2006.

Recent Acquisitions, Marchant, London, 2006, pl. 34.

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, 2006-2025 (on loan).

Combining the flaring foot and sensuous shoulder of a meiping prunus vase with a long elegant neck, the present vase typifies the innovative and finely produced porcelain of the late seventeenth century under the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722). The present vase combines a rich variegated blue glaze, delicately controlled copper-red accents, underglaze-blue classical painting and boldly incised border designs which, in combination, create a lively and bold composition.

Comparable vases of this design are preserved in important collections around the world. Compare a very similar example from the collection of Samuel Putnam Avery Sr. (1822–1904), preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 79.2.255), illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1989, pl. 218; another included in the Salting Bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. C.533-1910); a third preserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (accession no. AK-RBK-15836); and a fourth from the collection of Sydney Ernest Kennedy (1854–1933), sold at Christie's London, 21st June 1916, lot 257, and more recently in our Paris rooms, 17th May 2024, lot 209. Also compare a closely related group of vases featuring chilong around the neck in place of the present avian scene, including one from the Wollaston Franks Collection preserved in the British Museum, London (accession no. Franks.452.+a).