TWO CHINESE UNDERGLAZE-RED BOTTLE VASES QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

each globular body well painted in varying tones of underglaze-red with three Buddhist lions, their eyes picked out in underglaze-blue, all beneath a slender neck and border of stiff leaves and fretwork below the slightly flared rim. Together with two later gilt-metal stands. 4 pieces.

Vase with darker red decoration - Good condition. There are few typical scattered burst airbubbles and small black firing speckles to the glaze. There is a smal glazed-over firing tear in the edge of the foot. Vase with lighter red decoration - Good condition. There are a few typical scattered burst airbubbles and small black firing speckles to the glaze and a 1/8 inch black firing spot on the neck.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Bottle vases decorated in underglaze-red with this subject matter appear to have been made in at least two sizes, with examples of the smallest size - usually 6 to 7 inches in height  - more commonly found. The present examples are also unusual in having the addition of the stiff leaf border around the neck, which appears on only one other recorded example, that from the Collection of Lord Barnard, sold at Christie's, London, 28th July 1975, lot 126. An interesting variation on the same theme, however, can be found a bottle from the Collection of Augustus the Strong, now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, illustrated by Eva Strober, "La maladie de porcelaine." East Asian Porcelain from the Collection of Augustus the Strong, Leipzig, 2001, p. 51, (together with two other smaller examples). This bottle has the addition of large stiff leaves beneath the rim and a ruyi border around the base of the neck, both executed in iron-red enamel and gilding, as well has having gilt highlights on the body of the lions. This overglaze decoration was almost certainly added in Europe. For a fine example of a large bottle of the more usual type without the stiff leaf border, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. II, p. 109, no. 734.