AN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AND THUS EXTREMELY RARE GILT AND COPPER-RED ‘THREE BEASTS’ BOTTLE VASE, KANGXI PERIOD

Expert’s note: Pear-shaped bottles decorated with animal motifs in copper-red are exceedingly rare, and examples further adorned with gilt details over the glaze are rarer still. On most pieces of this type, the gilding is extensively worn; on the present vase, however, it remains in an exceptionally well-preserved state. As part of the Dresden Porcelain Collection, the vase was placed in careful storage not long after its creation and remained virtually untouched for some one-and-a-half centuries. Its highly distinguished provenance meant that, even as the collection passed from royal ownership into private hands, the importance of safeguarding its masterful yet delicate decoration was always fully appreciated.

China, 1662-1722. The bulbous body supported on a short foot and rising to a long, slender neck with lipped rim, painted in copper-red do depict a qilin, a horned pixiu, and a Buddhist lion, their fur marks highlighted in gilt and with black (in fact very dark cobalt-blue) pupils. The upper mouth lined in gilt and the base unglazed.

Provenance: Collection of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, acquired in 1723, and thence by descent. Seized by the Free State of Saxony during the German Revolution of 1918-1919, subsequently restituted to the Albertine House of Wettin, and thence by further descent. An important Bavarian private collection, acquired from the above. The base inscribed with wheel-etched Johanneum inventory numbers, ‘N 15 [Arrow]’ and ‘I.163.’, and two inventory numbers of the Dresden Palace, ‘II.A.17.’ and ‘P.O.7997’. The vase was most likely acquired in June or July 1723, together in a set of eight similar vases, from either his most influential minister Jakob Heinrich von Flemming or the Berlin-based porcelain dealer Madame Bassetouche, who delivered a great amount of East Asian porcelains to the court. After the death of Augustus the Strong, it was likely stored in the Japanisches Palais until the Dresden Porcelain Collection was moved to the Johanneum in 1876.
Condition: In absolutely perfect and magnificent condition, with no damage of any kind. Only the most minor wear and minimal firing irregularities are present, including a few tiny dark spots and slight pitting. The gilding is exceptionally well preserved—an extremely rare survival for this type of ware. This piece is for the most discerning collectors, who will recognize the rarity of such a pristine state of preservation.

Weight: 920 g
Dimensions: Height 25 cm, Diameter 14 cm

The so-called Johanneum mark on this vase was used for porcelains from the collection of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony (1670-1733). Porcelains from the old collection, an inventory of which was started in 1721, bear these engraved marks, which were colored black, of numbers and letters corresponding to the particular class of porcelain.

A near identical example, which is the pair to the present vase, remains in the Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection. It bears the Dresden Residence inventory number ‘PO 7998’ (the present lot having the number 7997) and the palace number ‘N 15 [Arrow]’. This vase was researched and published on The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection platform which transcribed the historical palace inventory of Augustus the Strong. It is very likely that the present vase was part of the same inventory listing, “N. 15. 8 like items, 10 inches high and 6 inches in diameter”. See the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Inventory no. 324. Inventory of the Palais in Alt-Dresden. In the year 1721. [Addenda], Red Chinese, Ch. II. Dresden 1721, p. 863.

The current example is decorated beneath a clear glaze using a copper-red glaze, rather than underglaze-red painting. This method produces bold silhouettes but lacks the capacity for fine detail, which is why gilt highlights were applied to enhance the design. Originating in the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty, this technique was rarely used after the Xuande period but was again revived during the Kangxi period. The present vase is an outstanding example of this ability as the simple yet skillfully applied brush strokes, in which the three mythical animals have been executed, are remarkably well-preserved and very clearly visible.

Literature comparison:
Compare two further closely related copper-red bottle vases with beasts, dating to the Kangxi period, all from the collection of Augustus the Strong, in the Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection, museum inventory numbers PO 7987 and PO 7988.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Near identical
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 April 2016, lot 51
Price: HKD 2,480,000 or approx. EUR 326,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper-red and gilt-decorated bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period
Expert remark: This is the only other known example to have appeared on the auction market with gilding so exceptionally well preserved, which also made it the most expensive specimen of its type ever sold. Formerly in the distinguished Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928–1969).

#expert video FAS1025