Lot 3088. A very rare famille-rose turquoise matrix-ground lantern vase with floral sprays, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 39.7 cm., 15 5/8 in. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,160,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the ovoid body supported on a short foot gently rising to a waisted neck, flaring to a gilt-decorated mouth, the exterior sparsely decorated with leafy sprays of flowers and fruits, including prunus, orchid, peony, lotus, pomegranate, chrysanthemum, rose, hydrangea, aster, camellia, and morning glory, all reserved on a turquoise ground suffused with a dense network of scrolls, the interior of the mouth and the base glazed turquoise, the base inscribed in red with a six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 1979, lot 259.

Note: Boldly enamelled with a ground in imitation of turquoise matrix, the present vase exemplifies the immense variety of styles and innovations explored during the Qianlong period. The Qianlong emperor's predilection for idiosyncratic designs and the development of a large palette of colours allowed porcelain simulations to be created, and these became the trompe-l'oeil of ceramics.

Compare further Qianlong mark and period vases enamelled with a similar ground simulating turquoise matrix, such as a pear-shaped vase decorated with birds and flowers, from the Hebblethwaite collection, sold twice in our London rooms, 2/3rd December 1974, lot 539, and again, 14th July 1981, lot 121; an ovoid vase with two landscapes in shaped panels, the turquoise ground scattered with flower sprays, sold in these rooms, 29th November 1978, lot 323; and another of slightly waster baluster form painted with two landscape panels below two similar vignettes also sold in these rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 616. See also an ovoid vase decorated with birds on a fruiting peach tree against a related ground, from the John Morrison collection, illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. CVIII, fig. 2. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 april 2011