A VERY RARE METAL-MOUNTED PORTUGUESE-MARKET BLUE AND WHITE VASE THE PORCELAIN JIAJING PERIOD AND DATED 1552, THE MOUNTS LATER

of pear shape, freely painted around the exterior with a continuous leafy lotus scroll, all between ribbon-tied auspicious emblems at the base and an inverted Portuguese inscription within a double-line border at the shoulder, the neck with a jewelled pendant band, the base with four character mark wan fu you tong,

Bonhams London, 7th December 1990, lot 46

This rare vase is in good overall condition with the exception of loss to the upper section of the neck, minor glaze firing imperfections including burst glaze bubbles and tiny iron spots around the body and light glaze scratches. It should be noted that the cobalt-blue is of a slightly stronger tone than the catalogue illustration would suggest.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present piece belongs to a rare and significant group of vases called the 'Jorge Alvarez bottles', which are distinguished by an almost identical two-lined inverted inscription at the shoulder. These bottles provide important historical evidence to the Portuguese presence in China in the mid-sixteenth century and stand as the precursors to the Chinese export tradition which gathered momentum over the following decades. Only seven other bottle vases of this type are known and are found at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Walter's Art Gallery, Baltimore, the Caramulo Museum, Portugal, and the Ardebil Shrine Collection at the Chehel Sotun, Isfahan. Three were sold in these rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 177; 19th June 2002, lot 188; and 12th July 2006, lot 78.

The almost indecipherable inscription should probably read ISTO MANDOU FAZER JORGE ALVRZ NA ERA DE 1552 REINA (Jorge Alvarez ordered this to be made in the era of 1552; see Filipa da Cruz Martins in her unpublished thesis Early Sino-Portuguese Porcelain, 1993). A merchant and adventurer, Jorge Alvarez's presence on the Chinese island of San Chuan, near Canton, is recorded in 1552, and the original text given to the Chinese artisan to copy would undoubtedly have specified the king in whose 'reina' the pieces were made. However, the combination of the craftsman's lack of understanding of the Portuguese language and limited space available on the vase most probably resulted in the exclusion of some of the text. Nevertheless, the appearance of a name in the Roman alphabet on pieces of Chinese porcelain is predated only by three bowls held in the Museu Raina D. Leonor in Beja, Portugal, the Duca de Martina Museum, Naples, and the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, which bear the name of Pedro de Faria.

The four character mark wan fu you tong  may be translated as 'May happiness without end favour your affairs'. For a bowl with this mark, see Coleccao Amaral Cabral, Azul E Branco Da Chine, Lisbon, 1997, cat. no. 22.