A Chinese Imari apothecary bottle and a pair of sprinklers
Kangxi and circa 1725The first decorated with large-headed, stylised scrolling peonies under floral decorative patterns at the neck, the pair with blossoming prunus branches on the pear-shaped bodies under the lappet bands at the necks.The bottle: 24cm (9 1/2in) high (3).
注脚
Provenance: Christie's, New York, The Benjamin F. Edwards Collection of Chinese Art, 22 January 2002, lots 10 and 32 respectively.The bottle, B. F. Edwards collection, no. 1887 (label).A European form used for liquid medicines and made in both Japan and China, most often in the 17th century, apothecary bottles were sometimes inscribed with the names of potential contents or of an owner. D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, p. 204 points out that the "double rings enabled a skin or parchment strip to be tied with a thong over the mouth which could then be sealed with wax".