Lot 7. A copper-red and underglaze blue vase, meiping, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795), 24.5 cm, 9 5/8  in. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the well-rounded shoulders rising from a slightly splayed foot to a short straight rim, painted with a composite lotus scroll, the copper-red blooms enhanced with puce enamel, above a broad ruyi band at the foot and a band of lappets below the rim, the base inscribed with a seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th/6th November 1996, lot 783. 
Sotheby's Paris, 13th June 2012, lot 186.. 

Note: This elegant vase is unusual for its ornate design of scrolling leaves surrounding full lotus blooms and illustrates the European baroque influence on the decorative repertoire in China in the 18th century. The Qianlong period is not only considered the zenith of Chinese artistic and cultural production, but also an era when the interaction with European art through Jesuit missionaries was at its highest. The Emperor’s fascination with this new decorative repertoire manifested itself in the creation of attractive objects that combined well-known Chinese forms and designs with foreign elements, such as the present piece.