Page 32 - Sotheby's YAMANAK Vase Oct. 3, 2018

3001

PROPERTY OF A JAPANESE FAMILY COLLECTION
A HIGHLY IMPORTANT AND

EXQUISITELY ENAMELLED

YANGCAI RETICULATED
‘FISH’ VASE

BLUE-ENAMEL SEAL MARK
AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

superbly potted with a baluster body rising from a
countersunk base to a tall waisted neck and galleried rim,
the neck meticulously and elaborately decorated with a
pendent ruyi border shaded in tones of grisaille, the border
rendered suspending pearl strings whimsically enamelled with
reflecting highlights to simulate three-dimensionality, depicted
attached with auspicious emblems, including the ‘double fish’,
‘good luck’ talismans and musical stones, as well as stylised
luxuriant floral blooms and Rococo-inspired undulating
acanthus leaves with feathery fronds, all against a brilliant
yellow ground neatly diapered with twelve-sided polygons,
the lower section of the body ingeniously modelled with a
celadon-reticulated wall of kui dragons and archaistic phoenix
emphasised with gilt borders, framing four evenly spaced gilt-
rimmed medallions exceptionally carved in relief with dynamic
scenes of different fishes, the celadon-glazed reticulated
shell revealing an inner vase decorated in shaded tones of
underglaze blue with a composite floral scroll reminiscent
of early Ming blue and white porcelains, the lower section of
the vase bordered with two green-ground bands enclosing
iron-red kui dragons, above a yellow-ground frieze of an
opulent composite floral scroll, all between two key-fret bands
encircling the rim and foot, the base enamelled turquoise and
centred with a blue-enamel six-character seal mark within a
double square
40.8 cm, 16⅛ in.
PROVENANCE
Yamanaka & Company, Osaka, Kyoto, New York and Boston,
1905.
The American Art Association, New York, 1905.
Acquired from Yamanaka by a Japanese private collector,
1924, thence by descent.
EXHIBITED
Antique and Modern Chinese and Japanese Objects of Art,
Curios, Paintings, Prints, Textiles and Embroideries, The
American Art Galleries, New York, January 1905, cat. no. 352
(illustrated).
HK$ 50,000,000-70,000,000
US$ 6,370,000-8,920,000

MARK