A very rare famille-rose turquoise matrix-ground lantern vase with floral sprays, Seal mark and period of Qianlong. Photo: Sotheby's.

the ovoid body supported on a short foot gently rising to a waisted neck, flaring to a gilt-decorated mouth, the exterior sparsely decorated with leafy sprays of flowers and fruits, including prunus, orchid, peony, lotus, pomegranate, chrysanthemum, rose, hydrangea, aster, camellia, and morning glory, all reserved on a turquoise ground suffused with a dense network of scrolls, the interior of the mouth and the base glazed turquoise, the base inscribed in red with a six-character reign mark; 39.7 cm., 15 5/8 in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,000,000 HKD

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 1979, lot 259.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 3088.

Note: With its bold decoration of floral sprays scattered around a bright ground painted in imitation of turquoise, the present vase displays the broad variety of styles and innovations in ceramic design that marked the Qianlong period. In simulating the traditionally esteemed semi-precious stone and choosing an idiosyncratic design, the craftsmen purposefully created a work of art that would cater to the aesthetic taste of the Qianlong Emperor.

Compare further Qianlong mark and period vases similarly enamelled with a simulated turquoise-matrix ground, such as a slightly larger vase of similar form, but with a longer neck, depicting birds on flowering branches, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 186; another of ovoid form, from the John Morrison collection, published in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. CVIII, fig. 2; and a pear-shaped example from the Hebblethwaite collection, sold twice in our London rooms, 2nd/3rd December 1974, lot 539, and 14th July 1981, lot 121. An ovoid vase decorated with two landscape panels against a turquoise ground scattered with flower sprays, was sold in these rooms, 29th November 1978, lot 323; and another of slightly waisted baluster form, painted with two landscape panels below two similar vignettes, was also sold in these rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 616.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 Apr 2014 -www.sothebys.com