Lot 1749.An unusual small blue-enameled quadrilobed brush pot, Qianlong four-character seal mark in iron-red and of the period (1736-1795); 3 in. (7.7 cm.) high. Estimate $4,000 - $6,000. Price Realized $6,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

Decorated with thick blue enamel, the wider sides each with a shou medallion surrounded by five bats set against a reticulated cloud ground, the narrower sides painted with a vertical band of florets separated by lines and dots, between key-fret borders at the mouth and base, all supported on four tab feet, the mouth rim gilded, the interior and base enameled turquoise, wood stand.

Note: A related lobed seal paste box of Qianlong date in the Percival David Foundation is illustrated by S. Pierson with A. Barnes in A Collector's Vision: Ceramics for the Qianlong Emperor, London, 2002, p. 62, no. 52. The decoration and seal mark on this box are very similar to the decoration on the present brush pot, and it is possible that these two items may have come from the same set.  

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I and Part II Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 24 March 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza