China, Kangxi period (1662-1722). The baluster shaped, lobed teapot with metal and bamboo handle, straight spout and wood cover, decorated in polychrome enamels with two panels, each painted with flowers growing from weathered rocks and featuring butterflies and other insects, all between scrolling vines and flower reserves and below a key fret border at the neck.
Condition: With minor fritting and an old repair to the area above the spout, otherwise good condition. Provenance: Holzapfel collection, Geneva, Switzerland. This lot was acquired by a third-generation member of the Holzapfel family after 1995 and has remained in the family ever since.