A Famille-Rose 'Twin Fish And Chime' Vase. Qing Dynasty, 18th Century - Photo Sotheby's

of baluster form supported on a splayed foot, the rounded sides rising to an angled shoulder and a waisted neck below an inverted rim, brightly decorated around the exterior in famille-rose enamels against a white ground with four large lotus blooms borne on foliate scrolls with attendant lotus and daylilies, each set below beribboned 'twin fish' suspending a pale green chime, finely detailed in shades of brown with gills and serrate fins, the neck further enamelled with four yellow and pink petalled flowers open in full bloom among feathery scrolls, below a border of florets and pink fleurs-de-lys at the rim, the foot skirted by upright multi-coloured lappets above sprays of florets and a raised iron-red foot painted with a gilt 'classic' scroll, the inside and base glazed in pale turquoise; 31 cm., 12 1/4 in. Estimation: 1,200,000 - 1,500,000 HKD - Unsold

PROVENANCE: A private English collection (by repute).

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The symbolism of the design found on this finely decorated vase is especially auspicious. According to Teresa Tse Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 2006, p.185, the twin fish, while being one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, also symbolize freedom from restraint and convey the message of 'may you be blessed with connubial bliss, fecundity and an abundance of good luck' (see ibid., p. 44). 

Vases decorated in a similar style, with finely painted lotus blooms and scroll in particularly vivid enamels against a white ground, can be found in different shapes; for example, see a Qianlong mark and period vase illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 95; a famille-rose lantern vase sold in these rooms, 9th October 2008, lot 1504; and a pair of vases sold at Christie's New York, 15th September 2009, lot 467, of related tapering ovoid body but with handles on the neck and everted ruyi head-form rims.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong | 09 oct. 2012 www.sothebys.com