Lot 3101. A fine small inscribed iron-red and underglaze-blue waterpot, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 7 cm., 2 3/4  in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD (68,366 - 91,155 EUR). Lot sold 1,062,500 HKD (137,063 USD). © Sotheby's. 

potted with a domed body surmounted by a short mouthrim, the exterior decorated in iron-red with an imperial poem, all between an underglaze-blue ruyi-head border painted in reverse technique and a band of wan symbols, the countersunk base inscribed in underglaze-blue with a six-character seal mark.

Note: Elegantly potted, the present piece is inscribed in the classical changduanju style (‘alternate long and short lines’) with an imperial poem inspired by waterpots made for the scholar’s desk. Following the footsteps of his father, the Jiaqing Emperor was a prolific poet in his own right, composing thousands of poems throughout his reign. While porcelains inscribed with imperial poems from the reign are not uncommon, unlike the preceding Qianlong reign, only a small number of different poems has been used.

Another Jiaqing reign-marked waterpot inscribed with the same poem in iron-red from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Small Refined Articles of the Study. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2011, pl. 227. The Palace Museum waterpot differs from the current example in its form, slightly more rounded and with shorter neck, and the borders are decorated in famille-rose. Compare also a similar pair of waterpots, of identical form and with the same decoration and poem, on display in the Gallery of Chinese Ancient Ceramics, Shanghai Museum. This poem is also found on famille-rose waterpots of pingguozun form with a tapered body and broad shoulders.

Sotheby's. Imperial Porcelain and Works of Art from a Hong Kong Private Collection, Hong Kong, 07 april 2015, 10:15 AM