A magnificent and very rare famille-rose and celadon-ground vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong

25 février 2019

A magnificent and very rare famille-rose and celadon-ground vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong

Lot 818. A magnificent and very rare famille-rose and celadon-ground vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 14 1/4 in., 36.2 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 USD. Lot sold 1,361,600 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

superbly potted with a body of slightly flattened baluster form and quatrelobed section, the swelling sides rising from a splayed foot to a broadly flaring neck flanked by a pair of high-relief elephant-head handles, evenly covered with a pale celadon glaze molded in archaistic style with a broad border of upright plantain leaves alternating with thin lappets terminating in ruyi heads, above a narrow studded band suspending pendant ruyi-head shaped petals enclosing flowerheads, molded to each lobed face with an ogival panel within gilt borders, painted in famille-rose enamels on a white ground with flowering branches, one depicting peony, another with prunus and rose, one with chrysanthemum and the last with only peony, all reserved on a finely incised ground of bats and clouds, the foot with stylized keyfret motifs below a band of curling foliage, with the handles, mouth and foot picked out in gilding and the attractive glaze thinning on the raised surfaces and pooling in the recesses to enhance the decoration, the countersunk base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 1st October 1991, lot 786.

Literature: Christie's Twenty Years in Hong Kong. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Highlights, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 219.

Note: It is extremely rare to find a famille-rose and celadon-glazed vase of this form and design. The present vase is particularly striking in its brilliant glaze, meticulously painted panels and combination of carved and molded decorative motifs, and displays the very high level of quality achieved by artists working at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. Tang Ying, the famed superintendent at Jingdezhen during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns, strove for technical and artistic perfection, and wares made under his supervision are renowned for their stylistic variety and exceptional quality.

Compare a vase of nearly identical shape and decoration, although painted with landscape panels representing the 'Four Seasons' and including a short inscription illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, pl. 222, which can also be found in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. pl. 68, where the author states that "this sumptuous vase was undoubtedly made for the Palace" (ibid., p.171). For two other vases that belong to this rare group, see a pair from the Liddell Collection, one painted with two panels of hunting scenes alternating with panels of inscriptions, and the other with four landscape panels, both illustrated in The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain, Bluett & Sons, London, May 1929, cat.nos. 178 and 179, respectively. See also a related celadon-glazed moonflask decorated on each side with circular famille-rose painted panels, from the Qing court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 124, p. 142.

The sophistication and deliberate employment in the Yongzheng and early Qianlong periods of carefully variated types of celadon glaze to achieve quite different aesthetic results would seem to reflect the Emperor's particular interest in this glaze color. The specific celadon glaze used for vases of this type is a bright sea-green, which Chinese connoisseurs designate as douqing, which achieves a distinct contrast between the ground and relief designs.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007