Transitional Blue-and-White Square Bottle

The shape of this flask derives from European gin bottles. Its decoration in brilliant shades of blue with fantastic animal motifs—such as a leopard, the mystical <em>qilin</em>, a horse, and another imaginary beast—is characteristic of porcelain of the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties when potters lost imperial patronage and experimented to find new clients in China and abroad.