Bottle Vase Made for a Portuguese Trader

Trading and exchange between China and the Portuguese began after Manuel I established an embassy at Beijing in 1517. The Portuguese exported and traded blue and white porcelain throughout Europe. This bottle is one of six known "Jorge Álvares bottles," named for the Portuguese naval captain and merchant that purchased them. Álvares was also known to be a friend to St. Frances Xavier, a Jesuit missionary in China and throughout the Asian continent. The inscription around the shoulder of the bottle, written upside-down in imitation of a Portuguese model, is translated as "Jorge Alvrz (Álvares) had this made at the time of 1552 [reign of King John III]." The base reads "wan fu you tong" translated roughly as "may infinite happiness come to this place."

The cobalt blue painting in the outline and wash technique depicts the 16th-century Buddhist motif of lions playing with brocaded balls. Beneath, along the curved base, are more balls with waving tassels. Ornamental chains and geometric flowers adorn the lower half of the neck while the flared mouth is painted with pointed plantain leaves. Other examples of the Álvares bottles include paintings of aquatic, terrestrial, and fantastic flora and fauna.

Inscription

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Laffan Sale, 1911, lot 75; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911 [mode of acquisition unknown]; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.