Lot 3240. A rare famille rose pink-ground Tibetan-style altar vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in iron red within a square and of the period (1736-1795). Estimate HK$1,500,000 - HK$2,500,000 ($194,006 - $323,343). Unsold. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The vase is finely decorated with brilliant enamels to the globular body with the Bajixiang, Eight Buddhist Emblems, divided by lotus heads issuing scrolling leaves above a band of overlapping petals on the base and below the ribbed neck painted in multi-colour outlined in black. The side and top of the tapering cylindrical mouth is adorned with further lotus scrolls, and the raised edge is covered with a turquoise glaze dotted with iron-red bosses. All are reserved on a soft pink ground. The interior and the base are enamelled in turquoise. 10,25 in. (26 cm.) high

Notes: The form of the present lot is derived from Tibetan altar vases, and is probably based on a jewel-encrusted silver original known as a Bumpa, the Tibetan word for ‘vase’. Vessels of this type were made for use in Buddhist temples situated within the Palace grounds, that were constructed throughout the Qianlong period. For an illustration of a silver Bumpa, see Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Beijing, 1996, pl. 146; where the author mentions Bumpa vessels were originally used in Tibet for displaying sprays of herbs and placed in front of images of Buddha. 

Three pairs of similar famille rose Bumpa vases, each pair decorated with different coloured-ground, from the Fonthill Heirlooms were sold at Christie’s London, 18 October 1971, lot 71, of rose-pink ground; lot 72, ruby-red ground; lot 73, yellow-ground. The rose-pink pair in particular is very similar to the present lot. Another rose pink-ground example was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2006, lot 1297. A further turquoise-ground example in the Shanghai Museum collection is illustrated in Chugoku Toji Zenshu, Kyoto, 1981, vol. 12, pl. 130, as well as in Qingdai ciqi shangjian, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 119-120. 

Christie's. THE IMPERIAL SALE / IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 1 June 2016, Convention Hall