A Rare Miniature 17th Century Kangxi Blue and White Vase.

Kangxi c.1670s

A Rare Miniature 17th Century Kangxi Blue and White Vase, Jingdezhen Kilns c.1670s. From the Collection of John Drew (1933 – 2006). This thickly potted Kangxi porcelain vase is decorated in what is referred to as the ‘pencil style’. This simply means the drawing is of fine lines, without infilling of tonal washes of cobalt blue. This rare vase is similar to miniature vases recovered from the Hatcher Cargo of c.1643 (two covers were recovered from the wreck with a cyclical date equivalent to 1643 were recovered). Most miniature Kangxi blue and white vases date from around 1700. For examples of the Hatcher vases of this type see ‘Information’ below. The two-character mark to the base can be translated as ‘Precious Trinket’, see The New & Revised Handbook of Marks on Chinese Ceramics’ by Gerald Davison (2010. ISBN 978-0-9564518-0-4) page 60, mark number 391.

See Below For More Photographs and Information.

RESERVED

Condition: In excellent condition, one minute frit to the foot.
Size: 8.7 cm (3 1/2 inches)
Provenance: Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. The John Drew Collection : John Drew was born in 1933 in Tideswell, Derbyshire, where his father was curate. The family moved to Norfolk whilst he was still a baby and his father became the rector of the parish of Intwood and Keswick. He was educated at Sedbergh School and after National Service in the R.A.F. being taught Russian, he went to Queens College, Oxford to read Greats (Classics). He spent nearly all his working life in various African countries as an archivist, moving to a post at Cape Town University in 1978. He remained in Cape Town after his retirement until his death in 2006. He had a great love of the English countryside (but not the climate) and this is shown in many of the pieces he collected. His taste was varied and ranged from Neolithic right through to the 18th Century. When we sent photograph to his home in Cape Town of pieces we thought he might be interested in, he would write long funny well observed letters back, wanting to add many of the items to his growing collection. Over the years we got to know him better and better, and during the last few years it was very rare for him to not want all the pieces we offered him. We knew his taste, even though his taste was so varied. This was in no small part because he had a very good eye and it was a pleasure finding things that interested him, because they were also very interesting to us. He never got to put his collection on display, something he hoped to do while on retirement in England, so it is with a mixture of pleasure and sadness that we offer these pieces from his collection this June. Each piece has a John Drew collection label, so when the collection is split up there will be some lasting record of the love and hard work he put into his two decades of collecting.
Stock number: 27421

Photos

Information

A Closely Related but Earlier Miniature Vase from the Hatcher Cargo of c.1643.

A Miniature Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Vase from the Hatcher Cargo c.1643. This miniature Chinese porcelain vase is finely painted, and a good strong cobalt blue has been used. Miniature blue and white objects, such as the present example, were very popular in the Netherlands in the 17th century. However, the cargo from the Chinese junk didn’t make it to Batavia where it would have been divided. I think these vases were made for the local South East Asian market as the fashion for miniatures in the Netherlands did not start until the latter part of the 17th century. Most of the small vases for the so-called dolls houses and for the Baroque displays found in Dutch houses are from the Kangxi period, not the end of the Ming dynasty.See below for more photographs and references. SOLD Condition In excellent condition with a very good glaze for shipwreck porcelain. Size Height 6.1 cm (2 1/3 inches) Provenance Christie's Amsterdam, June 1984. Stock number 26351 References For a group of Hatcher vases of this typ see : Fine And Important Late Ming And Transitional Porcelain, Recently Recovered from an Asian Vessel in the South China Sea. Property of Captain Michael Hatcher. Christie`s Amsterdam 14th March 1984, lots 350 to 356. — A Miniature Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Vase from the Hatcher Cargo c.1643. This miniature Chinese porcelain vase is finely painted, and a good strong cobalt blue has been used. Miniature blue and white objects, such as the present example, were very popular in the Netherlands in the 17th century. However, the cargo from the Chinese junk didn’t make it to Batavia where it would have been divided. I think these vases were made for the local South East Asian market as the fashion for miniatures in the Netherlands did not start until the latter part of the 17th century. Most of the small vases for the so-called dolls houses and for the Baroque displays found in Dutch houses are from the Kangxi period, not the end of the Ming dynasty.

Condition
In excellent condition with a very good glaze for shipwreck porcelain.
Size
Height 6.1 cm (2 1/3 inches)
Provenance
Christie's Amsterdam, June 1984.
Stock number
26351
References
For a group of Hatcher vases of this typ see : Fine And Important Late Ming And Transitional Porcelain, Recently Recovered from an Asian Vessel in the South China Sea. Property of Captain Michael Hatcher. Christie`s Amsterdam 14th March 1984, lots 350 to 356.