Lot 618. A large famille rose 'Nine peach' bottle vase, 19th century; 21 in. (53.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 112,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The vase is decorated with the spreading branches of a fruiting peach tree bearing nine large peaches and numerous white and pink blossoms, the graceful leaves painted in blue-green on the top and yellow green on the underside. An apocryphal Qianlong seal mark is on the base.

Provenance: CChristie's New York, 29 March 2006, lot 546.
The Studio of the Clear Garden.

Note: Peaches have traditionally been associated with Daoism and longevity. In mythology, the goddess Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, owned a vast peach orchard, and it was said that anyone who ate the fruit would become immortal. As such, peaches are considered sacred and auspicious, and when used as a decorative motif, convey wishes for longevity and good fortune. Vessels decorated with luxuriant peach branches were very popular in the Qing dynasty, and might have been commissioned as birthday gifts or as a form of commemoration for an imperial birthday.

Christie's. The Studio of the Clear Garden: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 22 March 2018, New York