A famille rose 'hundred deer' vase, Hu, Qianlong seal mark, Late Qing Dynasty. Sold for £35,000 (€48,486). Photo Bonhams.

The pear-shaped body raised on a straight foot and flanked by a pair of stylised dragon handles to the tapering upper section, brightly painted with a herd of spotted deer enamelled in white, beige and brown, variously depicted grazing and galloping in an open field amidst pine trees and craggy rocks, beside a meandering stream flowing from the mountains forming a background to the scene. 44.8cm (17 5/8in) high

Provenance: a distinguished European private collection 

Notes: The 'hundred deer' motif was a popular motif in Chinese art as 'bailu 百鹿' is a pun for the wish to receive a 'hundred emoluments' or 'bailu 百祿'. For a Daoguang period example of a 'hundred deer' vase, see Liu Liang-yu, Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares: A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 1991, p.225. A Qianlong period prototype of the current vase is illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain Of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Nanjing and Hong Kong, 1995, no. 86.

Two similar vases were sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 24 November 2013, lots 246 and 247.