Visually striking and extremely rare, this magnificent underglaze-blue and copper-red vase heralds the grandeur of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95) and his legitimacy to the throne as the 'Son of Heaven'. The Chinese emperors believed they ruled by heavenly mandate and every element of the present piece serves symbolically to affirm Qianlong's supreme power as emperor, from the form to the dynamic dragon motif among the celestial clouds. The vase belongs to an exclusive and small group of 'dragon and cloud' tianqiuping that were inspired by Song dynasty (960-1279) dragon paintings and early-Ming dynasty (1368-1644) blue and white porcelain. This group boasts the exceptional craftsmanship and creativity of potters working under the supervision of Tang Ying (1682-1756), the brilliant Superintendent of the Imperial Kilns in Jingdezhen, who strived to cater to the taste of the Emperor. By referencing a celebrated design and form from China's past and skillfully fusing it with high Qing technical mastery, the result is a spectacular piece that is at once familiar and innovative.

In addition to the present vase, only four other Qianlong tianqiuping of the same design appear to be recorded. One is from the Qing Court Collection, now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 故00156815), published on the Museum's website and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 210 (fig. 1); the second from the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, sold three times in our Hong Kong rooms, 29th October 1991, lot 192, 27th April 2003, lot 48 (fig. 2), and again 31st October 2004, lot 22; a third, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 22nd May 1984, lot 125, and later entering the Chang Foundation, Taiwan, illustrated in James Spencer, Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 150; and the fourth, included in the exhibition Xiangjiang yaji. Xianggang huigui zuguo 20 zhounian tezhan / Treasures of Hong Kong. The 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2017, cat. no. 103.

Left: Fig. 1 An underglaze-blue and copper-red ‘dragon and cloud’ vase (tianqiuping), Seal mark and period of Qianlong © The Palace Museum, Beijing.
Right: Fig. 2 An underglaze-blue and copper-red ‘dragon and cloud’ vase (tianqiuping), Seal mark and period of Qianlong, Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27th april 2003, lot 48.

Clouds and waves in their endless variations and forms have always fascinated Chinese artists. As abbreviations of sea and sky, symbols of rain and wind, they are fundamental to the Chinese art tradition. Depictions of fantastic beings among waves and clouds can be dated back to as early as the shamanist beliefs of the late Eastern Zhou period (771 BC-256 BC). Dragon as one of the most iconic creatures in Chinese mythology has been associated closely with clouds and waves, as this mythical animal is believed to have power over the water, in the form of rain or of floods, and breathe clouds.

The design of the present vase is perhaps inspired by the famous Southern Song dynasty handscroll painting, The Nine Dragons, by Chen Rong (c.1200-1266) (fig. 3). As one of the most highly treasured masterpieces in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (accession no. 17.1697), this remarkable handscroll was once in the Qing Court Collection and was included in the Qianlong Emperor's imperial painting catalogue, Shiqu baoji. Given its inclusion in this seminal catalogue, court artisans of the Qianlong period would have had access to this painting and possibly drew inspiration from it when designing the present vase. When dragons are depicted as imperial animals, they tend to be surrounded by unreal symbols of highly stylized clouds reminiscent of lingzhi to add a further layer in conveying auspicious meaning.

Fig. 3 Chen Rong, Nine Dragons, ink and color on paper, Southern Song Dynasty, dated 1244 © Francis Gardner Curtis Fund, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Tianqiuping are often very large in size with a globular body resembling the spherical planets in the sky (tianqiu). This form was first created in the Yongle period. The Qianlong artisans clearly referenced the early Ming dynasty prototypes when creating the present vase, with a focus on further perfecting the design of the painting and form, such as by broadening the neck and lifting the shoulders slightly to create a more imposing form. See a Yongle blue and white tianqiuping strikingly painted with a large striding dragon among cloud wisps, from the Qing Court Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 故00145568), published on the Museum’s website; and another Xuande example, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cang mingchu qinghuaci [Early Ming Porcelains in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, pl. 79.

Only a small group of 'dragon' tianqiuping have appeared at auction in recent years. See an underglaze-blue and copper-red example from the Yongzheng period, similarly painted with dragon and clouds, sold recently at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2023, lot 2840; a Qianlong blue and white tianqiuping, decorated with nine dragons among clouds, sold at Osenat auctions, Fontainebleau, 1st October 2022, lot 36; another painted with an iron-red dragon among blue and white flower scrolls, sold at Nagel auctions, Stuttgart, 11th December 2018, lot 346; and a famille-rose 'dragon and cloud' example from the collection of George H. Taber Jr., sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot 3614.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 19 March 2024