Lot 2714.  Property from The Tianminlou Collection. A superbly painted blue and white ‘flower and fruit spray’ meiping, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 32.3 cm high. Price realised HKD 6,552,000 (Estimate: HKD 4,000,000 – HKD 6,000,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 24 May 1974, lot 420 (sold as a pair)
Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999)
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, The T.Y. Chao Private and Family Trust Collections of Important Chinese Ceramics and Jade Carvings: Part II, 19 May 1987, lot 271. 

Literature: - Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong, 1978, no. 79b
- Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 63
- Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5: Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 180
- Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Taipei, 1992, p.210-211, no. 88
- Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1996, p. 222-223, no. 94
- The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 215.

Exhibited: - Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong, 1978, no. 79b
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 63
- Chang Foundation, Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Taipei, 1992, no. 88
- Shanghai Museum, Blue and White Porcelain from the Collection of Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1996, p. 222-223, no. 94.

Note: The inspiration for the shape and pattern of this vase originates from meiping vases produced during the early Ming dynasty in the 15th century. One palace record reveals that it was under the specific instruction from the Qianlong Emperor that such vases were made at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen: on the 25th day of the 6th month of Qianlong 3rd year (1778), the Emperor decreed that:

‘A Xuande blue and white meiping decorated with three fruits’ was to be delivered to Tang Ying at the imperial kilns, where copies based on this were to be fired. After which, the Xuande prototype should be returned to the porcelain storage within the palace.

This vase has illustrious provenance, formerly from the collection of shipping tycoon and renowned collector T.Y. Chao, before entering the Tianminlou Collection.

Compare to several similar Qianlong meiping, including：
1) one in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2010, pl. 117;
2) a pair exhibited at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts in 1980, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2011, lot 2942, for HK$24,180,000;
3) and one formerly in the Shorenstein Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2970, for HK$7,820,000.

Christie's. The Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 30.11.2023