Lot 52. A rare Famille-Rose 'Ladies of the Han palace' lantern-shaped vase, Jiaqing seal mark and period (1796-1820); 30,5 cm, 12 in. Estimate:   80,000 - 120,000 EUR. Lot sold: 150,000 EUR. © Sotheby's.

la panse finement peinte des dames de cour et de servantes dans le jardin d'un palais, entourées de deux groupes de musiciennes et d'une danseuse, toutes parées de vêtements aux couleurs luxuriantes, la scène centrale entourée de part et d'autre de frises de ruyi, le col et l'épaulement à fond rubis décorés de frises de lotus colorés, le col orné d'une frise de ruyi à fond jaune et le pied embelli d'une frise de leiwen à fond bleu, l'intérieur et la base émaillés turquoise, marque à six caractères en cachet en rouge-de-fer à la base.

Ancienne Collection Aristocratique Française.

Note: In its shape and decoration the present vase belongs to a group of porcelains produced at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the early years of the Jianqing reign. Porcelains of this period continued to be influenced by Qianlong designs and are quite likely to have been made by the same potters who made porcelains for the Qianlong emperor and his household. This finely painted continuous scene of elegant ladies in a palatial garden setting is reminiscent of scroll paintings, with the ruby-ground around the mouth and foot serving as mounting for the painting.

Compare another vase of the same shape, size and subject matter, possibly the pair to the present piece, sold Sotheby's New York, 16th September 2009, lot 222. See a Qianlong vase of different shape painted with the design of nine elders in 'famille-rose', also with ruby-ground decoration around the mouth and foot, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 28, together with another vase painted with the Eight Immortals in between turquoise-ground panels, pl. 31; and a lantern-shaped vase, also with a Qianlong reign mark and of the period, decorated with playing children between a green-ground band, included in Treasures of the Royalty. The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 320.

Sotheby's. Arts d'Asie, Paris, 10 december 2019.