A Large Blue And White Vase. Qianlong Seal Mark And Period. Photo Sotheby's

of hexagonal section, supported on a splayed foot, set with a waisted trumpet neck of conforming section, the sides well painted in brilliant tones of cobalt-blue with boughs of pomegranate, peach and persimmon alternating with flowering branches, decorated with spandrels painted as spiky lotus scrolls, springing from linked trefoils encircling the base and pendent ruyi border around the shoulder, the neck and foot similarly painted with floral sprays divided by matching spandrels, the countersunk base inscribed in underglaze-blue with a six-character reign mark. Height 26 3/4 in., 68 cm. Estimate 80,000-120,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Christie's Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 568.

Property From An Important Asian Collection

NOTE: A closely related example in the Nanjing Museum is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 1993, p. 212; one, sold in these rooms, 20th May 1998, lot 764, is published in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 469; and a third example was included in Selected Masterpieces of the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1975, pl. 102. See also a pair of vases, from the collection of General Field Marshall Alfred, Count von Waldersee, sold in our London rooms, 12th July 2006, lot 116.

For the inspiration of this form and design see a Yongzheng vase from the Grandidier collection and now in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 164.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York. 14 september 2011 www.sothebys.com