Page 31 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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A RARE MOLDED FAMILLE-ROSE ‘WINE JAR’ 清道光 粉彩「狀元紅」瓶
MEIPING
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF DAOGUANG 《大清道光年製》款
with eight inscribed cartouches imitating content labels: 字：
Zhuang Yuan Hong (a type of wine), Zhe Shao (Zhejiang 狀元紅
and Shaoxing), De run zheng ji (shop mark), Shaoxing laojiu 浙紹
(old Shaoxing wine), the base with a six-character seal mark 德潤徵記
in iron red 紹興老酒
Height 7¾ in., 19.6 cm
來源
PROVENANCE
Georg Weishaupt (1906-2004) 收藏，編號724
Collection of Georg Weishaupt (1906-2004), no. 724. 阿姆斯特丹蘇富比1995年10月16日，編號188
Sotheby’s Amsterdam, 16th October 1995, lot 188.
展覽
EXHIBITED 《From the Dragon’s Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from the
From the Dragon’s Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection》，
the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, 應用藝術博物館，法蘭克福及装饰艺术博物馆，柏
Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt and Museum für 林，1987年，編號35
Kunsthandwerk, Berlin, 1987, cat. no. 35.
Still produced and imbibed today, Zhuang Yuan Hong is a
traditional rice wine from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province. In
the Shaoxing region, it was customary for locals to bury a jar
of wine when a child was born. The wine would be unearthed
and enjoyed on his or her wedding day, or in the case of
a son, if he returned home successful after the imperial
examinations. Such wine jars were often colorfully decorated
or carved with floral designs, hence Shaoxing wine has
become synonymous with the term huadiao jiu (‘floral carved
wine’).
The present vase faithfully imitates these wine jars, from
the descriptive content labels to the surrounding elaborate
wickerwork, a feature still found on large Shaoxing wine
vessels today. Given the celebratory connotations of
these wine jars, relating to births, marriages, and scholarly
success, it is possible porcelain ‘Zhuang Yuan Hong’ vessels
such as this piece were gifted as auspicious presents.
Compare a related Daoguang period meiping in the collection
of the Palace Museum, Beijing, vibrantly enameled in red
with molded wickerwork designs, also with similar labels,
published on the museum’s website (https://www.dpm.org.
cn/collection/ceramic/227001).

$ 20,000-30,000

58 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 PROPERTY FROM THE BARBARA AND LESTER LEVY COLLECTION 59