Lot 222. A 'famille-rose' 'Ladies of the Han palace' lantern-shaped vase, Jiaqing iron-red seal mark and period (1796-1820); height 12 1/2 in., 31.2 cm. Est. 250,000—350,000 USD. Lot sold 902,500 USD  to an Asian Trade. Photo Sotheby's.

the tall oviform body painted with a central section featuring ladies in a pavilion garden, the lush setting providing the backdrop for a figure dancing to instrumental music performed by attending ladies, all adorned in elaborate garments picked out in green, aubergine, green and yellow enamel, the scene bordered by ruyi-head lappets at the shoulder and tapering foot, the former rising to a waisted neck decorated with stylized lotus scrolls and gilt wan symbols, the latter with smaller lotus scrolls, all reserved on a deep ruby ground, the short straight foot painted with ruby-colored chrysanthemum against a blue scroll-work pattern, the base and interior glazed turquoise.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 30th April - 2nd May 1995, lot 672

Note: In its shape and decoration the present vase belongs to a group of wares produced at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen during the early years of Jiaqing's reign. Wares of this period continued to be influenced by Qianlong designs and were possibly produced by the same potters who made wares for the Qianlong emperor and his household. This fine and meticulously painted scene of ladies is reminiscent of scroll painting, with the ruby-ground around the mouth and foot serving as mounting for the painting. 

The scene depicts ladies of the Han Palace, a subject that rose in popularity in later Chinese art when the Han dynasty became a subject of nostalgia. Elegant and beautifully-dressed women occupy a romanticized world, engaged in exemplary behavior such as modesty and encouraging the transmission of culture as seen on this vase where they play music and dance. This theme also reflects the antiquarian interest characteristic of the Qing period. 

A closely related vase was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 2nd November 1998, lot 411; another example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 20th March 1990, lot 672, and again, 26th April 1998, lot 511; and its companion piece was also sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th September 1992, lot 601. Compare Qianlong vases of similar form and decorative scheme; such as one decorated with the Eight Immortals between a turquoise ground neck and foot, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 350, pl. 31; and a green-ground example depicting children at play, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing published in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 320.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 16 Sep 2009