A small Chinese porcelain Dutch-decorated bottle vase Kangxi 1662-1722

A small Chinese porcelain Dutch-decorated bottle vase Kangxi 1662-1722, originally enamelled in underglaze copper red with three dogs of Fo or other mythical beasts in various poses, later-enamelled with three small figures, one poking one of the beasts with a long stick, two others standing on a bridge above a pagoda and rockwork, a further figure fishing from a jetty beside ducks around the foot, the neck with small flower sprays, 12.5cm.

Provenance: the Helen Espir Collection, no. 490. Purchased from James Norbury, March 1996.

Cf. Eva Strober, La Maladie de Porcelaine, fig.18 for related bottles in the Dresden royal collection.

The non-European style of this vase suggests it was an early piece to reach Holland. It is not clear whether the decorator sought to ignore the existing decoration, or whether the charmingly surreal effect the vase achieves was his original comical intent.