It is not often that we are able to find Kangxi period vases of such impressive size and quality.  Measuring 21″ tall these baluster form covered vases are beautifully potted and painted, with a rich, buttery glaze and an intense cobalt blue that exemplifies the best porcelain of this golden age of blue and white. The bodies are decorated with panels, resembling lotus petals, with classic images of birds amongst flowering branches issuing from rockwork, the barbed rim covers with further petal-shaped panels filled with more flowering branches, all topped with lotus bud knops. These are just the type of fine objects that fired the craze for Chinese porcelains from Het Loo to Kensington Palace. Condition: once drilled for lamps, now filled, otherwise superlative quality! Circa 1690.