Page 56 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013

fig.1 A doucai garlic-head bottle vase, Qianlong seal mark The Property of a Lady 女士藏品
and period; image courtesy of the Idemitsu Collection
39
A very rare blue and white garlic-head ‘joined-lotus’ bottle vase
Qianlong seal mark and of the period
The bulbous body vividly painted in rich, even-toned underglaze blue
with meanders of double-headed lotus alternating with smaller lotus
blossoms painted in profile issuing from foliate scrolls above a band of
key-fret at the foot, the scroll design continuing over the ribbed neck
and the bulging garlic-shaped rim.
28.8cm (11¼in) high
£30,000 - 50,000
HK$350,000 - 590,000 CNY280,000 - 470,000

清乾隆 青花纏枝雙蓮紋蒜頭瓶 青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款

Provenance: an English private collection, acquired by the owner’s
grandfather, in the late 19th or early 20th century and thence by
descent within the family

來源：英國私人收藏，於十九世紀晚期或二十世紀早期由藏家祖父購
得，並由家族繼承下去

The present vase is extremely rare in the decoration of the lotus
blossoms. Unusually, the full open blossoms are painted as two lotus
flowers joined together, but issuing from a single stem. The only other
comparable example in form and design is a doucai garlic-head ‘joined-
lotus’ bottle vase, Qianlong mark and period, illustrated in Chinese
Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.230 (see fig.1 left
top). The motif of two lotus blossoms growing from the same stem is
very auspicious, forming a rebus bingdi tongxin 並蒂同心, which means
‘May you have a harmonious marriage and share the same ideals’.

This rare decorative element of a joined-lotus can also be seen on a
famille rose ruby-ground enamelled vase, Qianlong seal mark and
period, in the Qing Court Collection, National Palace Museum, Taipei,
dated to 1743, illustrated in Liao Pao Show, Stunning Decorative
Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, pl.29 (see fig.2
below left). Another example with this rare feature can be seen on
a doucai bowl, Qianlong mark and period, in the Nanjing Museum,
illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and
Qianlong Reigns, Hong Kong, 1995, pl.105.

The rarity of this feature would suggest that the present vase was a
special imperial commission.

The National Palace Museum vase is dated to 1743, a time during
which the Imperial porcelain production was directed by Tang Ying
(1682-1756). The similarity of the joined-lotus feature on the one hand
and the rarity of this decoration on the other, would indicate that the
present vase was very possibly produced under the supervision of Tang
Ying during the early Qianlong period.

fig.2 A famille rose ruby-ground bottle vase, Qianlong
seal mark and period; image courtesy of the National
5P2al|aBceonMhaumsseum, Taipei