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Alain.R.Truong
20 avril 2010

Qianlong 'famille-rose' & doucai porcelains @ Sotheby's Hong Kong, 08 Apr 10

A large turquoise-ground 'famille-rose' vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

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Lot 1852. A large turquoise-ground 'famille-rose' vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 54 cm., 21 1/4 in. Est. 4,000,000—6,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 10,740,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

the ovoid body painted in bright enamels with iron-red bats carrying beribboned auspicious objects, flying amidst a multi-coloured composite floral meander, all reserved on a turquoise ground, between ruyi and petal borders, the tall waisted neck supported on a collar decorated with shou medallions, similarly painted and flanked with iron-red monster mask handles, the rim and low foot encircled by various formal borders, the base inscribed in gilt with a six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th November 1989, lot 309.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 2000, lot 644.

Note: With the technical advances and virtuosity of porcelain production during the Qianlong period, potters from the official kilns were able to experiment with different techniques to satisfy the emperor's penchant for the curious and archaic. Although the idea of porcelain imitating other materials was not pioneered by the craftsmen of the Qianlong reign, the technique was nevertheless very popular and perfected.

This vase is from a group decorated to simulate cloisonné enamel, a technique where applied raised lines were used to create 'cloisons' on the body of a metal vessel which were then filled with coloured glass paste and fired. The painter of the present lot has successfully imitated the effect of gilt wires by outlining the famille-rose enamelled pattern in gilt, the linearity of which creates a pleasing contrast with the sculptural mask handles.

A turquoise ground vase imitating cloisonné in the Palace Museum collection, also with a gilt six-character Qianlong reign mark but in a more slender form, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, cat. no. 119. Compare also a smaller Qianlong vase of related form decorated with the bajixiang using the same enamelling technique and with small elephant-head handles, sold in these rooms, 24th November 1987, lot 182, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2566; and another ovoid vase with scroll handles similarly enamelled with lotus flowers amidst curling leaves and ruyi heads, from the W.W. Winkworth collection and Robert Chang collections, sold in our London rooms, 12th December 1972, lot 175, and at Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 505, and again in these rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 121.

An extremely rare small doucai vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

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Lot 1818. An extremely rare small doucai vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795);  19 cm., 7 1/2 in. Est. 2,000,000—3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 9,620,000 HKDPhoto Sotheby's 2010

the elegantly proportioned compressed globular body sweeping up to a slender neck and slightly flared mouth, the body painted with six ruyi head panels outlined in underglaze blue, each enclosing a stylised lotus flowerhead, alternating in iron-red and white, further linked by acanthus leaves, the neck collared with stylised pendant lappets reserved on a pale celadon-green enamel ground all below further lappets containing flower heads, all supported on a short foot skirted by a wave pattern, the details picked-out in gilt, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze-blue.

Provenance: A French Collection, by repute.

Note: No other related vase appears to have been published. The Qianlong emperor's preference for auspicious and novel designs is evident in the imperial wares of his reign, which frequently combined elements of various traditional motifs and formal elements to form innovative designs. The present vase is a good example of such originality, which presents the traditional ruyi, lotus flowers and lappets with Western acanthus leaves below the rim. The uniqueness of this piece is further enhanced by the incorporation of a celadon ground neck.

Compare a pear-shape doucai vase in the form of a hu with tubular handles, decorated on either side with a similar central motif of a lotus flower framed by a ruyi that is also picked out in gilt and surrounded by curling acanthus leaves, illustrated in Yeh Pei-Lang, Gems of the Doucai, Taipei, 1993, pl. 117. For a blue and white vase of elongated ovoid form, with Qianlong reign mark and of the period, decorated with ruyi panels enclosing a lotus blossom alternating with floral decorations, see one in the Huaihaitang Collection, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 108.

The acanthus leaf, thought to represent longevity and from one of the oldest flowers in the Mediterranean region, became a popular motif for decoration from the Ming period (1368-1644), which was carried throughout the Qing dynasty.

A famille-rose quatrefoil vase with landscape panels, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

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Lot 1853. A famille-rose quatrefoil vase with landscape panels, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795);  47 cm., 18 1/2 in. Est. 2,200,000—3,200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 6,260,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

the well-potted ovoid body of quatrefoil section, the sides painted in brilliant enamels and iron-red with four gilt-edged panels of scattered pavilions amidst trees and rocks with streams running across the landscape and peaks rising high in the distance, with occasional figures wandering or fishing, all reserved on a ground of formal lotus and clematis sprays, the shoulders stepped beneath the trumpet neck and decorated with floral scrolls, divided by narrow bands of gilt scrolls on black ground, the interior and underside of the base enamelled turquoise, the base inscribed in iron-red with a six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 22nd May 1984, lot 142.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 310.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 2000, lot 645.

Note: Compare another vase of the same form and with a Qianlong mark, painted with 'famille-rose' landscapes but on a ground imitating gilt-bronze, sold in these rooms 29th November 1976, lot 587.

See a large famille-rose two-handled vase decorated with landscape within reserved panels but against a gilt-painted blue ground, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 130. Also compare a large famille-rose vase of similar form and decoration as the present vase, but against a gilt-decorated blue-ground, offered in these rooms, 10th April 2006, lot 1730.

A famille-rose quatrefoil vase with landscape panels

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Lot 1942. A famille-rose vase with elephant-handles, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795);  27.8 cm., 10 7/8 in. Est. 900,000—1,200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,100,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

the ovoid body decorated in refined rose enamels with scrolling stems supporting large peonies, surrounded by alternatively two and three bats hanging from stems bearing smaller blossoms and fruit, between a border of pendent lotus, and a blue florette band at the slanted shoulder, and a skirt of lappets around the base, the waisted neck flanked by two moulded elephant handles in iron-red with details in gilt, dividing on each side a floral scroll encircling a jewelled pendant hung from a soaring bat, the everted galleried rim with decorative borders, the interior and base glazed turquoise with an iron-red six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30th October 2000, lot 207.

Note: It is rare to find a Qianlong vase of this elegant shape and combination of elephant head handles and decoration and only two further examples appear to be known; see one sold in our London rooms, 14th July 1981, lot 122; and the other also sold in our London rooms, 15th June 1982, lot 378. The form of the vase and the design composition are similar to that found on Qianlong colour-ground vases; see a large pink-sgraffiato ground vase decorated with bats amongst lotus blooms and swirling clouds, but with archaistic dragon handles, sold at Christie's New York, 21st March 2001, lot 280, and again in these rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1220; and a turquoise-ground example, painted with lotus scrolls in famille-rose enamels and with scroll handles, from the W.W. Winkworth collection, sold in our London rooms, 12th December 1972, lot 175, and again in these rooms, 24th May 1978, lot 253. Compare also a Jiaqing vase, with reign mark and of the period, of related form and decorated with a floral scroll and central lotus and a bat, shou character and archaic dragons on the neck, in the Huahaitang collection, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 136.

For further vases with elephant head handles see one, decorated with stylised lotus blooms and the bajixiang in famille-rose enamels on a colour ground, sold in these rooms, 20th May 1981, lot 873, and again, 19th May 1982, lot 342; and a blue and white vase painted with the bajixiang amongst lotus blooms sold in these rooms, 8th October 2009, lot 1699.

A massive celadon-ground famille-rose vase, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

Lot 1949. A massive celadon-ground famille-rose vase, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795);  81 cm., 31 7/8 in. Est. 700,000—1,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 860,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

heavily potted with the pear-shaped body rising to a wide slightly tapering neck, decorated in iron-red and gilding over light moulding with the bajixiang on a ground of white slip thickly applied and incised with bats in flight through swirling clouds, scattered overall with 'ball flowers' and flower sprigs in bright opaque enamels, all on a pale-blue celadon ground, a band of pink-ground upright lappets around the base, the short foot encircled by flower sprigs, the rim with an iron-red and gilt spearhead and scroll collar.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 1995, lot 151.

Note: Two Qianlong vases of this pattern in the Royal Collections at Buckingham Palace with early ninteenth century gilt-bronze mounts are illustrated by Scheurleer, Chinesisches and japanisches Porzellan in europaischen Fassungen, pl.527, with mounts by B. Vulliany, and pl.530, with mounts dated c.1823.

A famille-rose inkstand

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Lot 1945. A famille-rose inkstand, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 7.9 cm., 3 1/8 in. Est. 120,000—150,000 HKD. Lot sold.  500,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010.

in the form of a low table painted in famille-rose palette, the top with a cash symbol in openwork on a faux-marble ground, framed by a border of florets and feathery scrolls, flanked by raised ends with European-style flowers, each of the narrow waisted sides similarly pencilled with two bands of floral blooms, the long sides with openwork stretchers connecting a pair of bracket-shaped legs, the turquoise-glazed underside inscribed with a four-character reign mark in red on a white ground. 

11_Platzer_The_Artist_s_Studio

 

A pair of famille-rose green-ground cup saucers. Seal marks and period of Qianlong. photo Sotheby's

the shallow rounded sides of each saucer rising to a wide everted rim decorated with a pink key-fret band, the centre set with a countersunk well circled by a raised ridge and painted with a red shou character, the cavetto patterned with sprays of lotus alternating with pink bats and blue shou characters on a turquoise ground, the reverse adorned by iron-red orchid sprigs, the base inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character reign mark - 2.1 cm., 4 3/4 in. Est. 120,000—150,000 HKD. Lot Sold 225,000 HKD

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 08 Apr 10. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com

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