Page 108 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

194

A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE ‘SOLDIER’ VASE
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

of tall tapered baluster shape, with rounded shoulders
sweeping to a waisted neck and a flaring rim, richly
painted to the exterior in vivid tones of blue with a
central band of writhing chilong traversing amidst lingzhi
in reserve on a blue ground, between bands of lotus
scrollwork with a border of upright plantain leaves at the
neck and stylised scrolling lotuses around the foot
Height 92 cm, 36⅛ in.

PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s London, 12th May 2010, lot 107.
Grand and powerful, this vase is notable for its large
size and dynamic design, which required great technical
skills during all stages of the manufacturing process.
Monumental jars and vases of this type are often referred
to as soldier or dragoon vases after an event in 1717,
when Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), King of Poland
and Elector of Saxony and inveterate porcelain collector,
traded a regiment of 600 soldiers for a group of porcelain
including several blue and white Kangxi period vases
of this monumental size. Those vases came from the
collection of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and had been
housed within his own porcelain collection at Schloss
Oranienburg.
A set of seven, formerly in the collection of Augustus
the Strong and now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen,
Dresden, is illustrated in China. Japan. Meissen. The
Dresden Porcelain Collection, Dresden, 2006, p. 6; a
related pair of vases in the collection of Her Majesty The
Queen, is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese and Japanese
Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen,
vol. 1, London, 2016, pls. 352 and 353; a similarly large
vase in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great
Collections, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 114.
£ 60,000-80,000
HK$ 590,000-785,000 US$ 75,000-100,000
清康熙 青花穿花螭龍紋撇口大瓶
來源
倫敦蘇富比2010年5月12日，編號107

106 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right (which will depend on the individual circumstances).
Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.