Lot 146. A gilt-decorated famille-rose 'daji' 'double gourd' plaque, Qing dynasty, Qianlong –Jiaqing period (1736-1820); with frame 35 cm, 13 3/4  in. Estimate 150,000 — 180,000 HKD (19,110 - 22,932 USD). Lot Sold 900,000 HKD (114,804 USD). Photo: Sotheby's. 

moulded after a flattened beribboned double-gourd vase resting on a short foot and supported on a simulated wood stand, rendered with an iron-red surface picked out in gilt with a diapered ground, framing a gilt-rimmed white medallion on each bulb, the medallions enclosing the characters da and ji ('great happiness') respectively and encircled with five outstretched blue-outlined bats, all above a ruyi border skirting the foot, the shaped plaque further rendered with a billowing turquoise ribbon tied around the constricted waist and surmounted by a large gilt bat at the mouth-rim, affixed to a wood frame.

Note: Gourd-shaped vases inscribed with the characters daji (great happiness) are traditional good luck charms. Compare a daji plaque sold in these rooms, 2nd May 1995, lot 156; and another sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th October 2001, lot 743, and again in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3189. See also a similar daji hanging vase in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Hu, Shanghai, 1989, pl. 70.