Lot 74. A blue and white 'Bat and Cloud' bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 41.9cm., 16 1/2 in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 97,250 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's 2011.

the pear-shaped body rising from a slightly splayed foot to a tall cylindrical neck, painted in cobalt-blue tones with bats among clusters of stylised clouds above lotus lappets each enclosing a vertical fish-roe pattern, skirting around the foot with a keyfret border.

Note: This piece is unusual for its decoration of bats and clouds in underglaze blue and no other example of this form appears to have been published, although the design is known on doucai vases; see a Qianlong mark and period example of pear-shape and flared rim, but the design divided with a key-fret and ruyi border at the shoulder, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 14th July 1981, lot 123; and another sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 299, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 29-30th October 2001, lot 840. A similarly decorated doucai ovoid jar and cover, with a Qianlong reign mark and of the period, was sold in these rooms, 12th December 1978, lot 414; and another from the Jingguantang collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th April 1997, lot 748.

Compare also a tianqiuping painted with copper red bats and lingzhi fungus amongst underglaze blue clouds, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 212; and a pear-shaped vase sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th November 1978, lot 277.

The design of bats and clouds is highly auspicious. The Chinese words for bat (fu) and cloud (yun) are synonymous with luck and fortune.