Frankfurt Faience Blue and White Chinoiserie Bottle Vase, 17th Century

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Description

Frankfurt Faience Blue and White Chinoiserie Bottle Vase,
Circa 1680–1690

This is a rare survivor from the early years of … Read more Frankfurt Faience Blue and White Chinoiserie Bottle Vase,
Circa 1680–1690

This is a rare survivor from the early years of German faience, a blue and white bottle vase attributed to the Frankfurt manufactory and made in the 1680s, when Europe was in the grip of its first passion for Chinese porcelain. The globular body and flaring trumpet neck copy the Chinese bottles arriving in Dutch ships, and the painting is pure Baroque chinoiserie: a robed Chinese figure seated among rocks, grasses and tall banana plants, with a band of scrolling motifs at the base of the neck and pendant leaf lappets running up to the mouth.

The blue is deep and lively against a brilliant white glaze with a soft bluish tint, the quality that made Frankfurt wares the rival of Delft. The painting has the loose, confident brushwork of a painter working quickly from a Chinese model rather than copying it, which gives the piece real charm at close quarters.

At just seven and a half inches high, it works beautifully on a mantel, a bookshelf or a bedside table, and it sits happily with Delft, Chinese blue and white, or a mixed grouping of early European pottery. A single stem of foliage in the neck is all it needs.

Dimensions:
Height: 7 1/2 inches (19.1 cm)
Diameter: 4 1/2 inches (11.4 cm)

Marks:
A painter’s numeral in underglaze blue on the body near the foot rim.

Provenance:
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition:
Good condition with typical fritting to the mouth rim and foot rim, and a small firing spot on the body.

Ref: NY5384-ckmx See less