Page 348 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

ANOTHER PROPERTY
1829
A FAMILLE VERTE ‘ROMANCE OF THE THREE
KINGDOMS’ VASE
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The vase is finely decorated with a continuous scene of
military leaders including General Zhao Yun galloping on
horseback whilst shielding a baby, below a band of four
cartouches, each with a lotus blossom, set against a diaper-
ground on the shoulder. The waisted neck is decorated with
lingzhi-form clouds and branches of pine and bamboo.
17¿ in. (43.5 cm.) high
$50,000-70,000
PROVENANCE:
Important private collection, France.
Marchant, London, acquired in 2013.
EXHIBITED:
London, Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition. Qing
Porcelain from Private Collections, London, 7 - 22 May 2015.

LITERATURE:
Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition. Qing Porcelain from
Private Collections, London, 2015, pp. 22-23, no. 11.
The exquisitely enameled scene on the present vase may
be identified as a famous episode from the Romance of the
Three Kingdoms, known as "Hiding a Babe among 10,000
Warriors". This classic novel, attributed to Luo Guanzhong
(circa 1330-1400), tells of kingdoms competing during the
collapse of the Han dynasty. In this dramatic scene set
during the Battle of Changban in AD 208, the General Zhao
Yun gallops with Liu Shan, the baby son of Liu Bei and heir
to the Han throne. Just visible in the arms of the general,
the baby dreams of a dragon, as Zhao Yun desperately
escapes the army of Cao Cao, who appears to have them
trapped on all sides.

General Zhao Yun was accused by some of disloyalty to Liu
Bei, as he had apparently fled the battle and was suspected
of surrendering to Cao Cao. However Liu Bei refused to
believe such a possibility, claiming "Zilong (Zhao Yun's
courtesy name) would never desert me." Indeed, Zhao Yun
returned with the baby Liu Shan saved from the battle, and
he was promoted by Liu Bei to General of the Standard.

The scene was also favored as decoration for other
porcelain shapes: see, for example, a famille verte baluster
vase and a famille verte rouleau vase, both illustrated
in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum
Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 190-191, no. 124 and
pp. 194-195, no. 126. A famille verte dish of the same
subject matter is illustrated by E. Ströber, La Maladie
de Porcelaine, Berlin, 2001, pp. 68-69, no. 27. A vase of
similar shape, and also decorated with a historical narrative
scene, is illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New
Comprehensive Survey from the Asian Art Museum in San
Francisco, New York, 1996, p. 301, no. 641.
(another view)
清康熙 五彩三國演義「趙子龍單騎救主」圖瓶