A magnificent and extremely rare famille-rose reticulated vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong. Estimate 6,000,000 — 8,000,000 HKD (680,841 - 907,788 EUR). Photo Sotheby's

superbly potted with a pear-shaped body rising from a splayed foot to a waisted neck and flared rim, the exterior of the revolving body delicately painted in shaded pastel tones of pink, yellow, green and blue with lotus blooms and buds issuing from scrolling foliage with undulating vines and tendrils, all reserved on a white ground, the bulging body reticulated with four medallions, each enclosing a luscious garden scene denoting the cycle of four seasons and detailed with an iron-red balustrade, one panel with pale pink and yellow peonies borne on gnarled branches emerging from jagged rockwork symbolising spring, another with fruiting and flowering pomegranates evoking summer, another with cotton rose hibiscus blossoms representing autumn, the other with a gnarled prunus tree issuing yellow and pink blossoms standing for winter, the waisted neck flanked by a pair of elephant-head handles, below a band of stylised trefoil motifs and a border of trefoil petal lappets encircling the rim, all above an upright yellow lappet border enclosing pink small florets, the splayed foot decorated with a pendent plantain lappet border reserved against a pink ground, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark  40.5 cm., 15 7/8  in.

Notes: Vases with pierced panels revealing a differently decorated inner core were an innovation of the early Qianlong period, when the Imperial kilns were under the guidance of the ingenious supervisor, Tang Ying, and were only made for a short time. They are technical marvels which required the utmost mastery of the shaping, painting, glazing, firing and enamelling processes in the Imperial manufactories. The Qianlong Emperor, who is known to have been fascinated by mechanical toys and technical innovations, was the ideal patron for the development of such devices.

Reticulated vases are known in a variety of forms and designs, but the current example is a particularly successful example in this respect. The luxuriant flowers are brilliantly enamelled in a rich and diverse range of colours, skilfully spaced against the delicate white-glazed ground to achieve the greatest possible impact. The pierced circular panels give the illusion of a view through a garden partially obscured by fruiting branches, revealing garden views of the four seasons in all their splendid glory.

Another closely related elephant-handled reticulated famille-rose vase from the Qing court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 155. The Palace Museum vase is of identical form to the current example, and shares the same rare design of openwork circular 'garden scene' panels, but differs in colour scheme, the main body composed on a yellow ground, the foot and upper body on a ruby-red ground. It also has an unusual feature of a pair of bands inscribed with the 'ten stems' arranged either side of the turning point. In contrast to the current example, where the interior vase is no longer present, the Palace Museum vase is also preserved with its original inner vase, which is enamelled in famille-rose with a boy and other figures, as if in the garden itself.

For another Qianlong reticulated vase of similar size and grandeur sold at auction, see the hexagonal cafe-au-lait ground vase sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 639. The counterpart to that vase, from the collections of Lord Loch of Drylaw, Lord Margadale of Islay at Fonthill House, Tisbury and latterly the Chang Foundation, Taiwan, was also sold in these rooms, 18th May 1988, lot 272. The composition of the six-character seal mark on both vases, inscribed in underglaze-blue on the base, closely matches that on the current example. The magnificent reticulated panels are also similarly conceived to those present here, but in the form of garden windows, intricately potted with openwork fruiting branches interspersed with lingzhi, through which the viewer is invited to view the interior. 

For a reticulated famille-rose vase in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, preserved with its original Ming-style inner blue and white 'lotus' vase, recorded as having entered the Palace on the eighth year of the Qianlong reign (1743), see Liao Pao Show, Huali cai ci: Qianlong yangcai / Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, pl. 68. The National Palace Museum example is of pear-shaped form, with the whole lower body reticulated on a celadon ground, reminiscent of Longquan, but the composition of the luxuriant lotus flowers and scroll on the upper body closely matches that on the current vase. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong, 07 avr. 2015