A BLUE AND WHITE BOTTLE VASE FOR THE PORTUGUESE MARKET MING DYNASTY, JIAJING PERIOD, CIRCA 1540-1550

the globular body rising from a splayed foot to a long neck tapering to a garlic-form mouth, decorated in underglaze cobalt-blue with four armillary spheres below a band of lotus lappets, the neck with floral sprays issuing from rockwork, the garlic mouth with a band of flames, the foot skirted with a further band of lotus lappets, the base inscribed with an apocryphal four-character Xuande mark

The bottle vase is in good condition with the exception of orange-coloured firing cracks running along the interior of the foot and minor glaze firing imperfections such as burst glaze bubbles and iron spots.
"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."

No other vase of this type appears to have been published, although the armillary sphere motif is known on a ewer, with an extremely rare Zhengde reign mark and of the period, sold in these rooms, 18^th November 1998, lot 1060; and a bowl illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, vol. II, London, 1986, pl. 812, which is dated to 1541.

Further ewers, with a dragon-head spout and handle terminating in a fish tail, decorated with the armillary sphere emblem are known; see one in the Fundacao Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, included in the exhibition Do Tejo aos Mares da China. Uma Epopeia Portuguesa, Palacio Nacional de Queluz, Queluz, 1992, cat. no. 21; and another in the collection of Jose Cortez, included in the exhibition Caminhos da Porcelana, Fundacao Oriente, Lisbon, 1998, cat. no. 1. Although both ewers and this vase have a spurious four-character Xuande nianzao mark on their bases, according to Jean-Paul Desroches and Maria Antonia Pinto de Matos in 'The Portuguese, Discoverers of China', Orientations, April 1992, p. 79, the heavy potting and luminous glaze are typical of Zhengde period porcelain.

The circular medallion bearing an armillary sphere and an inscription which is meant to read 'In Deo Spero' (In God I Trust) is the emblem of King Manuel I of Portugal (r. 1469-1521) which was granted to him by his brother-in-law and his predecessor, King Joao II. The armillary sphere was the personal device of King Manuel I and represented his temporal power over his expanding empire.