A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE MOON-FLASK BIANHU, CHINA, QING-DYNASTY (1644-1911)

Modelled after a Middle Eastern metal prototype, elegantly potted with a flattened spherical body set with two circular bosses at the sides, rising to a garlic neck flanked by a pair of loop handles with ruyi-shaped terminals on the shoulders, all supported on a spreading foot of circular form, the front and back domed faces intricately painted in deep cobalt-blue tones with different types of flowers wreathed by foliate stems. The narrow sides of the flask decorated with a composite floral scroll interrupted by flower heads on the raised bosses, the neck collared by a band of stylised floral sprigs, below a garlic-form mouth, the foot skirted with a band of ruyi-heads, the unglazed base with a deep glazed recess in the centre. 29 cm.