Lot 201. A blue and white 'Peach' moonflask, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795); 24.2cm, 9 1/2 in. Estimate 100,000-150,000 GBP. Lot Sold: 289,250 GBP. Photo Sotheby's

the flattened circular body rising from a short spreading foot to a tall trumpet neck flanked by a pair of ruyi handles, moulded in low relief to the front and back face with a peach-shaped panel painted in rich cobalt-blue tones with bats amongst fruiting peach sprays, reserved on a leafy floral scroll ground and similarly decorated to the sides and neck, the foot with a classic scroll band, the base inscribed with a six-character Qianlong seal mark.

Provenance: Collection of T.T. Tsui (by repute).

Note: This piece has been masterfully executed to resemble the celebrated wares of the early fifteenth century through the use of the 'heaped and piled' technique to render the designs. The Qing craftsman has carefully manipulated the cobalt pigment to simulate the uneven blue tones characteristic of the early Ming period that occurred naturally as a result of the cobalt and firing.

A closely related example was included in The Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics of Eight Dynasties, National Museum of History, Beijing, 1987, p. 65; one was included in the exhibition Beauty and Tranquillity. The Eli Lily Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1983, cat. no. 116; and another was exhibited in Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 66. See two flasks sold in our Hong Kong rooms, one from the collection of R.I.C. Herridge, sold 29th November 1978, lot 235, and the other, 27th April 1993, lot 166; and a third example sold at Christie's New York, 16/17th September 2010, lot 1430.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 09 Nov 2011