Lot 263. Rare vase en porcelaine bleu blanc, meiping, dynastie Qing, Marque à six caractères en cachet en bleu sous couverte et époque Qianlong (1736-1795). Estimation €40,000 – €60,000 ($45,140 - $67,709). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016

The vase is finely painted in the fifteenth century style with peaches, pomegranates and lychees, forming The Three Abundances ('sanduo') , growing from leafy stems, and alternating with peony, prunus and lotus sprays, all between a lappet band to the shoulders and stiff leaves to the foot. The elegant waisted neck is painted with four delicate floral scrolls ; small restoration. 13 in. (33 cm.) high.

Provenance: Acquired in the Australian art market,Sydney, in the early 1970s.

Property of a French private collector.

A RARE AND FINELY PAINTED MING-STYLE BLUE AND WHITE 'SANDUO' VASE, MEIPING, CHINA, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Note: This elegant vase is characteristic of the exceptionally fine porcelains made for the Qianlong emperor in the style of early 15th century Ming dynasty wares. Emperor Qianlong greatly admired the imperial porcelains of the early Ming reigns, and the design of this vase was inspired by blue and white meiping of the Ming dynasty Yongle reign (1403-1424) decorated with sprays of fruit and flowers, such as the examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 32, no. 30, and the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, part 1, Hong Kong, pl. 1, as well as the Ardebil Shrine in Iran. See J. A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, London, 1981, pl. 51, no. 29.413. 
A Qianlong blue and white meiping of the same size as the current vase, and bearing the same decoration, formerly in the collection of Edward T. Chow, is illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre in Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, p. 108, no. 153. A slightly smaller Qianlong meiping with the same underglaze blue decoration in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 131, no. 117. Compare, also, the example sold in Christie's Paris, 9 June 2015, lot 105. 

Christie's. ART D'ASIE, 21 - 22 June 2016, Paris