71 - A Chinese blue and white garlic neck vase, Chongzhen (1628-1644), the globular body painted with figures bathing an elephant in a river, accompanied by monks, rising to a tall, slender neck with a raised bulb to the mid-section, decorated with leafy sprays of stylised tulips (40cm high) Provenance: The Private Collection of Michael George Kuczynski (1941-2025), Cambridgeshire. Footnote: The present vase is decorated with the popular late Ming subject of 'Xixiang tu' (Bathing the Elephant). Derived from Buddhist imagery associated with the celebration of the Buddha's birth, the scene depicts attendants bathing a white elephant, alluding to the ritual bathing of the Buddha. The subject also carries a Chan Buddhist connotation: as xiang (象, 'elephant') is a homophone of xiang (相, 'appearance' or 'form'), the washing of the elephant symbolises the purification of the mind through the abandonment of attachment to outward forms. The theme appears in the work of prominent late Ming painters, notably Ding Yunpeng and Cui Zizhong, and became a favoured decorative motif during the Chongzhen period. 明崇祯 青花洗象图瓶 Condition Report: Restoration around the neck where it joins the body.