Page 174 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

This vase belongs to a special group of imperial porcelains
See a similar handled vase, also with a Shendetang mark,
made during the Daoguang reign to furnish the Emperor’s set against a bright-blue ground with a continuous scene
newly built ‘Hall of Prudent Virtue’ (Shendetang). Part of figures engaged in dragon boat racing, illustrated in
of the Jiuzhouqingyan complex in the Yuanming Yuan, Porcelains with Inscription of Shendetang Collected by the
the Shendetang was completed in 1831 and became the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2014, pp 204-207; two painted
Emperor’s preferred residence until his death there in 1850. with a continuous scene of boys setting off firecrackers in
Featuring three connecting wave roofs on a square-shaped celebration of Chinese New Year were sold in these rooms,
structure, the hall was markedly different from the more 28th November 1994, lot 382 and 383, the first with yellow
characteristic Confucian-inspired architecture, a feature that and turquoise-ground flower-scroll borders, and the second
was also reflected in the style of porcelain that was produced with a pink ground and elaborate dragon handles; another
for the space. Porcelains bearing Shendetang marks such pair of pink-ground Shendetang vases was sold in our
as the present vase, are often decorated in brilliant colored Hong Kong rooms, 29th-30th November 2018, lot 430; and
enamels against rich colored grounds, a style pioneered by lastly a further vase but with a Daoguang reign mark and of
the Qianlong Emperor. the period, from the collection of Edward T. Chow, was sold
in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 597.
The vase is painted with four lively scenes showing
numerous boys at play, some chasing butterflies, playing
with prunus blossom branches and others holding a ruyi
scepter up high or carrying vases together. The dynamic
actions of the boys and the delicate renderings of the scene
speak to the masterful skill of the craftsmen while the even
pale-blue ground and exquisite famille-rose enamels work in
union to exude a sense of elegance and subtle opulence.
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