Lot 225. Paire de vases bouteille en porcelaine de la Famille Verte sur fond noir, Fin de la dynastie Qing; 23,2 et 23,5 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 EUR. Lot sold 56,250 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.

chaque vase à la panse piriforme et à long col étroit, décoré d’une composition florale foisonnante et d’enroulements délicats de sarments de vigne entrecoupés de feuilles rouges et de larges fleurs de lotus, clématites et pivoines aux émaux rouge de fer, bleu et jaune pâle, le tout sur fond noir, le pied décoré d’enroulements sur fond vert pâle (2) 

Note: Only one other pair of these distinctive pear-shaped vases is known, sold at Sotheby's London, 7th November 1946, lot 71, and they could be the present pair as both the design and size are very similar on the one vase illustrated in the 1946 catalogue. 

Others vases of this type and design are known, compare an example illustrated in An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's 1993, p. 80, cat. 34. See also another vase of this type, sold Christie's London, 6th December 1993, lot 124.  

The enamelled decoration reserved on a black ground can be compared to that on a group of similarly decorated Yongzheng-marked dishes, including a dish sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th April 2007, lot 780 and another example sold at Christie's New York, 29th March 2006, lot 496. It is interesting to note that while the dishes are all marked, vases of this design are not.