Lot 3188. A fine and rare slip decorated turquoise-glazed double vase, Seal marks and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 18.3 cm., 7 1/4 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD (48,929 — 68,501 EUR). Lot sold 1,940,000 HKD (189,844 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's 

each vase of flattened baluster form, with a slightly tapering sides rising from a short foot to a waisted neck and a rounded square rim, conjoined at the shoulder, finely painted in white slip enamel beneath a bluish-green glaze, the larger vase with a lotus wreathed by feathery leaves below a shou character, set between a frieze of ruyi and key-fret at the shoulder and upright lappets skirting the foot, the neck decorated with flower sprays under a gilt mouth rim, the smaller vase similarly painted with a single hibiscus bloom borne on leafy scrolls above upright lappets and "C" motifs around the foot, below a tasseled hibiscus and a frieze ofruyi collaring the gilt mouth rim, conjoined at the shoulder with the smaller vase slightly in front, the bases with a white panel enclosing an iron-red four-character seal mark

Note: It is rare to find the delicate lace-like decoration of white enamel over a turquoise ground on Qianlong vessels. A shallow bowl decorated with bats amongst a lotus scroll, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is illustrated in the Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 265; and a tall ovoid vase, with a six-character iron-red Qianlong reign mark and of the period, was offered at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 671. For a similarly decorated Jiaqing mark and period triple gourd vase see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Liu Lian-yu, Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 252 (top left); a vase of globular form and long neck flanked by handles, from the Weishaupt collection, included in the exhibition From the Dragon's Treasure, Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt Museum, 1987, cat. no. 17; and another globular bottle vase, from the Alfred Morrison collection and the Fonthill Heirlooms, sold at Christie's London, 9th November 2004, lot 54.