Lot 2718. A large Canton enamel vase, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 47.6 cm., 18 3/4 in. Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,460,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's 2010.

the ovoid body finely painted with four horsemen riding in a rocky landscape, amid leafy trees and Western-style buildings, joined by farmers with their horses on the other side of the mountain, all beneath a light blue sky with floating clouds, set with a waisted neck detailed with pendent plantain leaves and a band of stylised florets and foliage on a yellow ground, supported on a similarly decorated splayed foot.

Note: This vase is impressive for its large size and quality of the painting, and the carefully enamelled scene suggests that it was made by experienced Chinese artists possibly trained in the Palace Workshop by the Jesuit missionaries who introduced the technique of enamelling on metal to the court. The presence of four men equipped with light weaponry on horses and the stately manor in the background suggests that the scene derives from European hunting scenes made popular by the English painter James Seymour (1702-52) and often depicted on export porcelain. This representation of the theme is unusual in that it has been placed within a Chinese-style landscape, as seen in the vast and irregular forms of the rocky hills.

It is rare to find Canton enamel vases decorated overall with a continuous European subject scene. A comparable example, enamelled with churches in a landscape under similarly rendered clouds in a blue sky, with a Qianlong reign mark and of the period, is illustrated in Margaret Jourdain and R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Export Art, London, 1967, pl. 113. Further vases enamelled with a European subject within shaped panels include an opulently decorated example included in the exhibition Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 46; and another from the Estate of Elizabeth Halsey Dock, sold in our New York rooms, 1st June 1993, lot 97, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2520.

 A rare Canton enamel 'European subject' vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm.) high. Sold for 500,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2520. © Christie's Images Ltd 2008.

Cf. my post: A rare Canton enamel 'European subject' vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)

For a Qianlong mark and period vase of related ovoid shape and tall flared neck and foot, but of lobed form and decorated with prunus blossoms on a blue ground, see one in the Qing Court collection, and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 214 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Oct 10, 11:00 AM, Hong Kong