Lot 3998. A rare famille verte jar, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722); 8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price Realized HKD 2,420,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011 

Finely enamelled with a pair of pheasants perched on decorative rockwork beside a flowering magnolia tree, peonies and bamboo, amidst numerous birds and insects in flight or perched on branches, all between keyfret around the foot and a band of cartouches enclosing scholarly objects interspersed with detached floral sprays on the shoulder of the jar, the short neck encircled by colourful chilong striding amidst ruyiclouds. 

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait
Previously sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2006, lot 1431
A private collection. 

Note: Although the present design appears on a number of famille vertedecorated vessels from the Kangxi period, it is very rare to find a jar of this type inscribed with a mark. Cf. a baluster vase similarly enamelled with pheasants and inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 74.