Pair Kangxi G-mark bottle vases

This elegant pair of Chinese blue and white porcelain vases has a hexagonal form with long, slender necks rising from a compressed body. The main front and back panels are finely painted with a lady sitting in a fenced garden surrounded by flowering plants in jardinieres. On the side panels precious objects known as 'The Hundred Antiques' together with Daoist symbols are depicted. For example, we can see an Incense Burner (for ancestral worship) and a Flower Vase (for female beauty and harmony). The other side panel displays two smaller persons in a landscape. The whole decoration is set against a delicate cracked-ice ground, while the neck and foot are enriched with stylised lappet or 'Vandyke' and ruyi borders. Both bases bear the distinctive underglaze blue letter “G”.

The meaning of this unusual mark has intrigued scholars for many years. Found only on a small group of high-quality Kangxi blue and white and famille verte porcelains, the mark has variously been interpreted as a Roman letter, an Arabic character, or even a Persian (Farsi) symbol for wealth. The most widely accepted theory is that it represents the initial of a European merchant or Dutch East Indian Company trader who commissioned these wares, much like the personalised marks found on some early Japanese export porcelain. The consistently high quality of the porcelain suggests that these pieces were produced as special commissions rather than for the general export market.
The distinctive vase form is thought to have been inspired by earlier Persian or North Indian metalwork, just like the Persian shape of the depicted panels on the vase. This reflecting the cultural exchange that characterised the international porcelain trade during the Kangxi period. Comparable examples with the same “G” mark are preserved in international museums, while and notable private collections, making this an exceptionally interesting and sought-after pair of early Chinese export porcelain.

Reference:
-The Art institute of Chicago, ref. nr. 1931.408
-Lady Lever Art Gallery, Collection no. LL6450, LL6451, LL6452.
-B. Macguire, 'Four Centuries of Blue and White: The Frelinghuysen Collection of Chinese and Japanese Export Porcelain' 2023, Object 156, p. 196,
-Christie's 16 March 2015, Live Auction 3721 'An era of inspiration: 17th century Chinese porcelains from the collection of Julia and John Curtis', lot nr. 3584.

Conndition: No restorations. Some frittings to the mounts and bodies .One chip to the glaze of the foot of one vase. They have slightly different colors and  some small variation in size because they are painted and moulded by hand.