Provenance: Christie's New York, 17 September 2008, lot 514

Abundant Noble Sons. A Rare Qianlong Doucai ‘Boys’ Vase
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant

This charming miniature hu-shaped vase is a beautifully painted example of the much-loved decorative theme of children at play skilfully rendered in doucai technique. The decoration combines the lively depiction of boys at play in a garden with borders of intense cobalt blue and gold, creating an almost jewel-like impression. The vase takes its form from archaic bronze hu vessels of flattened pear-shape with tubular handles and a band running around the neck of the vessel at the same height as the handles. While vessels of this form were first seen in metal during the Bronze Age, the fascination with antiques during the Song dynasty led to this shape being adopted for ceramic wares made for the Song imperial court. Examples of hu vases with Guan ware glaze dating to the Southern Song dynasty can be found in a number of international museums, including the National Palace Museum, Taipei - one of these is illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Kuan Ware of The Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1962, p. 24, plate I. The Qianlong Emperor, for whom the current vase was made, was a keen antiquarian with an interest in both early bronzes and the ceramics of the Song dynasty, and thus the shape of this vase would have appealed to him. The small size of the vase is also in accordance with the Qianlong Emperor’s fondness for miniature vessels. This interest can be seen in his many ‘treasure boxes’, which he filled with small art objects of all kinds. 

This charming miniature hu-shaped vase is a beautifully painted example of the much-loved decorative theme of children at play skilfully rendered in doucai technique. The decoration combines the lively depiction of boys at play in a garden with borders of intense cobalt blue and gold, creating an almost jewel-like impression. The vase takes its form from archaic bronze hu vessels of flattened pear-shape with tubular handles and a band running around the neck of the vessel at the same height as the handles. While vessels of this form were first seen in metal during the Bronze Age, the fascination with antiques during the Song dynasty led to this shape being adopted for ceramic wares made for the Song imperial court. Examples of hu vases with Guan ware glaze dating to the Southern Song dynasty can be found in a number of international museums, including the National Palace Museum, Taipei - one of these is illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Kuan Ware of The Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1962, p. 24, plate I. The Qianlong Emperor, for whom the current vase was made, was a keen antiquarian with an interest in both early bronzes and the ceramics of the Song dynasty, and thus the shape of this vase would have appealed to him. The small size of the vase is also in accordance with the Qianlong Emperor’s fondness for miniature vessels. This interest can be seen in his many ‘treasure boxes’, which he filled with small art objects of all kinds. 

The main decorative band on this vase depicts children playing in a garden surrounded by bamboo, plantain, rocks and fencing. The ruyi band around the lower part of the neck is interspersed with pendant jewels. These formal devices are shown in deep cobalt blue and decorated with flowers and gold, providing a pleasing contrast with the lively scene of children beneath. The depiction of children in Chinese art has its roots in Buddhist beliefs, influenced by Daoism. However, by the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) images of young boys at play were no longer confined to religious art and were already a popular secular theme on the Chinese decorative arts, being viewed as an auspicious symbol associated with the wish for sons and grandsons, and thus the continuation of the family line as well as the prosperity of the family as a whole. Although the theme of groups of children at play does not seem to have been much employed in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) or in the early Ming reign of the Hongwu emperor (1368-98), it does appear on rare, porcelain bowls of the Yongle reign (1403-24). A bowl of this type is in the Tianminlou collection, decorated with sixteen boys playing in a garden, illustrated in Chinese Porcelain - The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 43, no. 15. 

The theme of boys playing in a garden really established its popularity in the arts of the Chenghua reign, and a Chenghua blue and white bowl decorated with boys at play was excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen (illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua – Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen,Hong Kong, 1993, p. 234, no. C73). A Chenghua doucai cup with boys at play was also excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen and illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua – Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdeezhen, op. cit., p. 268, no. C90. A pair of Chenghua doucai cups decorated with boys at play preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, from the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 38, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 194, no. 176. It is not a coincidence that the current Qianlong vase is decorated in doucai technique, which, like the theme of children at play, came to prominence in the Chenghua reign. Chenghua doucai wares were greatly admired by the Qianlong Emperor. 

In the Qing dynasty, the theme of boys at play reached a peak of popularity in the Qianlong reign. The emperor’s fondness for this decorative theme is emphasised by the existence of a beautiful 貼落 tieluo mural painted by the court painter 王幼學 Wang Youxue, who was a disciple of the European Jesuit artist Castiglione (郎世寧 Lang Shining), and others on the 28th day of the 2nd month in 1776 (illustrated in A Lofty Retreat from the Red Dust: The Secret Garden of Emperor Qianlong, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 170-5, no. 33). This mural is on the west wall of the central room of the 養和精舍 Yanghe Jingshe (Supreme Chamber for Cultivating Harmony), which is in the Qianlong Emperor’s gardens in the Forbidden City, Beijing. The painting is one of several trompe d’oeil murals created in the palace which cover a whole wall and appear to extend the room, and in this case offer a view into a garden beyond. The focus of the scene is a group of seven young princes at play accompanied by two imperial concubines. The depiction of the young princes has strong similarities with the boys on the current vase.

A Qianlong doucai vase of the same size and design as the current vase was sold by Christie’s New York on 17 September 2008, lot 514, the only difference between the two vases being that the New York vase had pink borders in place of the blue ones on the current vase. Two further Qianlong miniature doucai vases, of a different shape with scrolling handles, but sharing the same scene of boys in a garden and with blue and gold borders, were sold by Christie’s Hong Kong in 1994 – one on 3 May, lot 148 and one on 31 October, lot 619. The latter vase was sold again at Christie’s London on 8 November 2016, lot 74. A larger pear-shaped Qianlong vase with boys at play rendered in doucai technique and with a very similar scene to that on the current vase, including blue and gold borders (illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, op. cit., p. 272, no. 250) is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. In the Qianlong reign the theme of boys at play also provided an ideal subject of painting on porcelain using the famille rose or fencai palette. There is, for example, a Qianlong fencai globular jar with boys at play in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, op. cit., p. 106, no. 92. Similar famille rose or fencai painting of boys at play can be seen on a covered jar in the collection of the Palace Museum (illustrated in the same volume, p. 146, no. 128). There is also a Qianlong fencai lantern-shaped vase decorated with children at play in the Palace Museum, which is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, op. cit., p. 150, no. 132.

Note: See a similar Qianlong mark and period miniature vase also decorated in the doucai palette with a continuous scene of boys at play, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 1994, lot 619, then again at Christie's London, 8 November 2016, lot 74.

A rare miniature doucai bottle vase, Qianlong four-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 3 1/8in. (8cm) high. Sold for 365,000 GBP (452,965 USD) at Christie's London, 8 November 2016, lot 74. © Christie’s Images Limited 2016.

Cf. my post: A rare miniature doucai bottle vase, Qianlong four-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795)

Christie's. Rarity and Refinement: Treasures from a Distinguished East Asian Collection, London, 15 May 2018 - SALE 16837