Lot 104.  Property from the Barbara and Lester Levy Collection. A rare doucai 'squirrels and grapes' jar, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Diameter 8.6 cm, Lot sold 215,900 USD (Estimate 40,000 - 60,000 USD). © Sotheby's 2024

the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Geo E. McCague (1858-1926), acquired in 1903.

Cincinnati Private Collection.

Note: This exquisite doucai jar, adorned with a captivating depiction of fruiting vine branches and lively squirrels, is a rare and remarkable example of Yongzheng-period porcelain. In the Tang dynasty, grapes were considered an auspicious fruit and when paired with mythical beasts, manifested as the renowned pattern seen on bronze mirrors. While wild grapes have been native to China since ancient times, the grape motifs were largely introduced during the Han dynasty, originating from the Western regions along the Mediterranean coast.

However, the combination of squirrels and grapes did not appear in Chinese painting until the late Yuan or early Ming dynasty, and grew in popularity from the sixteenth century. The symbolism of grapes with multiple seeds resonates fittingly with the connotation of squirrels, which symbolize the wish for ceaseless generations of sons and grandsons, owing to the highly reproductive power of squirrels and the large clusters of grapes on vines.

The grapevine motif decorating the present jar appears to have been inspired by Ming dynasty, Xuande period (1425-35) prototypes; such as one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Shanghai, 2002, pl. 142; Compare also a Chenghua cup painted with grapevine and bitter melon in the doucai palette included in the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. 181.

Doucai jars of this charming form and superbly painted with fruiting vine branches and squirrels are extremely rare. Only one other example appears to be known, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2009, lot 1610. Compare Yongzheng mark and period doucai double-gourd vases, of miniature size but decorated in a more minimalist manner with a single long vine and a squirrel eating grapes at the lower edge, such as one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故瓷011283), published on the Museum's website; another from the H.R.N. Norton Collection, sold twice in our London rooms, 5th November 1963, lot 211 and 2nd-3rd December 1974, lot 528, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd October 2005, lot 465.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 19 March 2024