A rare Chinese porcelain Dutch-decorated hookah base late 17th century

A rare Chinese porcelain Dutch-decorated hookah base late 17th century, originally left plain with a brown line to the knop of the neck, later-enamelled in red, green and black with pheasants perched on flowering branches, beneath a formal baroque border, highlighted in gilt, the shoulder with flower sprays beneath red stiff leaves, the neckrim mounted in silver, 23.5cm.

Provenance: the Helen Espir Collection, no. 342. Purchased from Nicholas Pitcher, May 1994.

Illustrated: Helen Espir, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain, p.77, pl.6.

This rare shape copies the Japanese and appears to have been adapted for Dutch use as an apothecary bottle or vessel. While the palette lends itself to the Japanese Imari, the band of stiff leaves is a feature of Chinese blue and white porcelain of the Transitional period.