An Unusual Kangxi Blue and White Square Bottle c.1700.

An Unusual Kangxi Blue and White Square Bottle c.1700. This slab made bottle is unusual as most Kangxi examples have a different top, they are unglazed and vertical, this is then covered with a blue and white porcelain top. Very few of these Kangxi bottles have a flaring rim like the present example. The earlier forms of square blue and white bottles dated from the late Ming dynasty, and the later ones from the Kangxi and Yongzheng, they are based on a European glass form. They were probably used for alcoholic drinks such as gin. Smaller square blue and white bottles were also produced in Japan, at Arita, for the Dutch market, they have the Dutch East India Company, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, emblem VOC to the base. These initials look rather blackish-blue as they were painted on the base without glaze being applied. The panels with arched tops are painted with flowering lotus growing from a pond or lake, alternating with flowering chrysanthemum. The base is unglazed. See Below For More Photographs and Information