A large and rare blue and white 'longevity' vase, fanghu. Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period
A large and rare blue and white 'longevity' vase, fanghu. Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period. Photo Bonhams
Sturdily potted in the form of an archaic bronze fanghuvessel, raised on a slightly splayed foot with wide hips and steep shoulders leading towards a quatrelobed neck, flanked by a pair of hollowed square loops, painted in brilliant tones of underglaze-blue with a raised peach-shaped cartouche featuring ripe peaches issuing from leafy branches, the bats depicted feasting on the fruits of longevity and biting on a wan symbol tied with a ribbon, further interspersed with elaborate shou chrysanthemum blossoms amidst dense leafy vine scrools, all beneath a band of floral motifs with plantain lappets and lightning clouds, ruyi-head scrolls and wave scrolls, the base with a six-character zhuanshu seal mark. 49cm high - Estimate: HK$ 3.5 million - 4 million / US$ 450,000 - 520,000 / £300,000 - 340,000
For other large examples of Qianlong blue and white porcelain following archaic prototypes, see a pair of vases of huform preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Views of Antiquity in the Qing Imperial Palace. Special Exhibition to Celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Palace Museum, Macau, 2005, pp.140-141, pl.40.