Lot 93. A rare large blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 72cm (29 1/8in) high. Estimate £ 60,000 - 90,000 (€ 70,000 - 100,000). Unsold. Photo Bonhams.

Boldly painted in dark vivid blue all around the body with moonlit riverscapes, small figures in crafts in the foreground and pairs of figures idly conversing on the zigzag river bank beneath clouds eddying around mountain peaks. 

Provenance: an English private collection
Bonhams London, 12 May 2011, lot 298

Autumn Dusk at the Mountain Dwelling

After fresh rain in the empty mountains,
The evening weather heralds Autumn’s arrival.
The bright moon shines between the pines,
The clear spring water flows over the stones.
Wang Wei (699–759)

Note: Compare with a similar blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi, of similar size and form, and another of similar design, but smaller, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Hong Kong, 2000, pls.14 and 15. See also a similarly-painted large blue and white rouleau vase in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, ed., in Underglaze Blue & Red, Hong Kong, 1987, pl.186.

Compare with a related but smaller blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi, which was sold at Christie's New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1319.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 7 Nov 2019