A Rare And Finely Enameled Famille Rose Teapot And Cover. Jiaqing Seal Mark In Iron Red And Of The Period  (1796-1820). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

Each side of the globular body brightly painted with a bat positioned above a cluster of three peaches supported by a large stylized hibiscus blossom borne on and surrounded by scrolling, leafy tendrils bearing various types of flowers and interspersed with auspicious clouds, all between a ruyi border on the shoulder above and a petal lappet border below, with pink bands of key fret encircling the neck, foot and everted rim of the similarly decorated cover surmounted by a bud-form finial, the interior and base covered with turquoise enamel surrounding the seal mark: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) wide, box - Estimate $500,000 - $700,000 

Notes: The elaborate scrolling flower design on the present teapot is of a type found on other famille rose-decorated teapots of Jiaqing date, where the decoration is more commonly reserved on a colored ground, such as pink, turquoise, yellow or ruby red. The white ground of the present teapot appears to be quite rare, and sets off the particularly fine enameling executed in delicate shades of soft blue, green, yellow and iron-red.
Compare the pink-ground Jiaqing-marked teapot of related form and design, but with handle of different shape, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, One Thousand Years of Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 2006, p. 72, no. 50. Famille rose teapots of this type were also made during the Qianlong period, and two with Qianlong marks, one with a lime-green ground, the other with a turquoise ground, in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, are illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practice, and Art of Tea, Taipei, 2002, nos. 135 and 136, respectively.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I & II,  15 - 16 September 2011. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. www.christies.com