Poly Auctions.Imperial Treasures: A Selection of Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 21 April 2021
An Important Blue and White ‘Lychee’ Moonflask with Ruyi Handles, Yongzheng Period, 1723-1735
Lot 3211. An Important Blue and White ‘Lychee’ Moonflask with Ruyi Handles, Yongzheng Period (1723-1735). H 26.5cm. Estimate HKD 6,000,000 - 8,000,000 (USD 769,231 - 1,025,641). Sold Price: HKD 10,560,000 (USD 1,353,846). Copyright 2021 © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited
This flask is elegantly potted with a characteristic flattened body in globular form, finely painted in a soft blue hue with a branch of five lychee fruits on both sides, all between cresting waves encircling the foot and shoulder. The shoulders are decorated with a pair of lingzhi-shaped handles attached to the neck with a band of overlapping plantain leaves below row of dots with line borders on the mouth rim. All beneath a slightly blue-tinted transparent glaze, the base left unglazed.
Provenance: 1. Collection of the Empress Eugenie of France (1826-1920), by repute
2. Collection of Joseph Henry Barbet de Jouy (1812-1896) and thence by descent
3. Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2563
4. Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3569.
Note: The present piece is remarkable for its particularly history: it has been probably owned by the Empress Eugenie of France, later gifted to the archeologist Joseph Henry Barbet de Jouy (1812-1896) and inheritance in his family until it has been sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3569.
There are many examples of Yongzheng flasks voluntarily inspired by early Ming patterns, some revised as to adapt to the Qing Dynasty tastes, while some adhered closely to the original like the present flask. See an example in the British Museum, illustrated in Ming Ceramics, J. Harrison Hall, p. 109, no. 3:"20." The design of the vase closely adhered to the original work when compared into the details, the profile of the waves, the design of the lychee branch, the decoration at the base of the neck and the placement of the branches on the two sides. It is also a typical way for Yongzheng prototype to intentionally left without reign mark at the base to make it difficult to distinguish from the masterpieces of the previous dynasty.
Compare with a closely related example from the North American Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection, sold in our room, 2 October 2018, lot 3418, which comes formerly from the Jacobs Demarest Homestead in the United States, passed during the years to the Marlene Casey collection and the famous hands of Robert Chang. For other related flasks with different motifs, one with flowers and fruits is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang. Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], p. 396-397; another one with flowers and birds, is illustrated in p. 106-107.