Page 144 - Blum Feinstein Tanka collection HIMALAYAN Art Bonhams March 20 2024

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PROPERTY FROM A CONNECTICUT PRIVATE COLLECTION
393
A BLUE AND WHITE 'PEACHES' MOONFLASK The form of the present moonflask and the faux-'heaped and piled'
Qianlong seal mark and of the period effect of the cobalt are both inspired by Ming dynasty moonflasks of
Of flattened circular form, molded in low relief a peach-shaped panel the Yongle period (1402-1424), which were themselves modeled on
on each side enclosing bats and fruiting peach branches, reserved contemporaneous Islamic metal vessels. However, the motifs painted
against a border of floral scroll repeated on the collar around the in the principal design here are distinctly Qing. The main panels
cylindrical neck below a border of upright ruyi meander under the enclose bats (fu) and peaches (shoutao) to convey the pun fushou
flared mouth, the narrow sides of the vessel with lingzhi meander, shuangquan ('May you have both blessings and longevity'), a common
the strap handles molded with ruyi head terminals connecting the rebus in decorative arts of the Qing dynasty. Their presence on an
waisted neck and the shoulders, the low rectangular foot splayed and object with an imperial mark suggest that this moonflask may have
decorated with classic scroll, the recessed base with the six-character been created as a gift on the occasion of an imperial birthday.
seal mark in underglaze blue.
9 1/2in (24.1cm) high Numerous Qianlong seal mark and period 'bat and peach' moonflasks
of this type have survived. For examples in museums, see one in the
$20,000 - 30,000 Nanjing Museum, published in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese
Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2004, pl. 220; and one from the collection
清乾隆 青花《大清乾隆年製》篆書款 青花開光福壽紋如意耳扁壺 of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Lilly, now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art (acc.
no. 60.147), viewable on the museum's website. A third was included
Provenance: in the exhibition Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Art
Penglai Shanfang Collection, Tainan, Taiwan Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1973, cat.
Connecticut Private Collection no.66. Others have appeared on the market in recent years, including
one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3 December 2015, lot 29; one sold
來源： at Sotheby's, New York, 22 September 2021, lot 145; another sold at
蓬萊山房舊藏，臺灣臺南 Sotheby's, London, 10 May 2017, lot 215; and one sold at Christie's,
康乃狄克州私人藏 New York, 24 March 2023, lot 1050.

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