A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE BALUSTER VASE AND COVER TRANSITIONAL C.1640 Painted with a continuous scene of bamboo and blossoming flowers growing amidst rockwork, with two birds in flight around the blooms, the cover similarly decorated and surmounted by a conical knop, 34.8cm. (2) Provenance: from the collection of Professor Ronald N Arnold (1908-1963) and thence by descent. Professor Arnold was Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University from 1947 until his death. Following ill health, in 1953 he began to collect Chinese porcelain in his free time, buying most of his pieces from small antique shops and auctioneers in Edinburgh and London. Through the art historian David Talbot-Rice, Professor Arnold became acquainted with several experts in the field of East Asian ceramics, including Sir Harry Garner and Soame Jenyns.