Lot 619. A slender famille rose vase, signed Pan Taoyu (circa 1887-1926), dated xinyou year, corresponding to 1921; 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000. Price realised USD 21,250 © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The slender, high-shouldered vase is finely painted primarily in grisaille on one side with an early spring scene of two scholars riding donkeys followed by a servant as they travel through an early spring landscape of towering trees, all still bare except for one, possibly a prunus tree, bearing pink blossoms, and on the reverse with a continuation of the scene below a flock of birds and an inscription referring to the scene is followed by a cyclical date Xinyou and signature Tao Yu followed by a red seal, tao. The base has a two-character seal reading Guhuan, cloth box.

Provenance: The Anthony Evans Collection of later Chinese Porcelain; Bonham's 10 November 2011, lot 579.
The Studio of the Clear Garden.

Note: Pan Taoyu (1887-1926), whose studio name is Guhuan, was a late Qing/early Republic porcelain artists based in Poyang, Jiangxi Province. Known for his excellence in classical Chinese painting, he taught at the Jiangxi Ceramics School in Poyang while actively participating porcelain-painting at the Jingdezhen kilns at his leisure. With his meticulous techniques demonstrated in the famille-rose palette, he was considered one of the founding figures who brought porcelain-painting at Jingdezhen into the 20th century. Many famous artists, including members of the Eight Friends of Zhushan, such as Wang Yeting (1884-1942) and Liu Yucen (1904-1969), were his students.

Christie's. The Studio of the Clear Garden: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 22 March 2018, New York