A LARGE CHINESE FAMILLE VERTE BOTTLE VASE

A LARGE CHINESE FAMILLE VERTE BOTTLE VASE
KANGXI 1662-1722

The globular body painted with three large Buddhist lion dogs amidst elaborate ribbons and stylised floral brocade balls, all below flower and ruyi borders to the shoulder and neck and above a band of lappets to the foot, 42cm.

Provenance: from an English private collection, Sussex.

Cf. C J A Jörg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, p.166, no.182, for a closely related bottle formerly in the collection of James A Garland and the collection of J Pierpont Morgan.

In China, entrances to temples, official buildings, mansions and tombs, are traditionally guarded by pairs of lion dogs to scare away demons. The well-known lion-dance, in which the animal is preceded by a man with a ball on a long stick, is traditionally connected with the Feast of Lanterns, held on the 15th day of the first lunar month at the end of the Chinese New Year festival.

清康熙 五彩獅子繡球長頸瓶
來源：英國薩塞克斯郡私人收藏