Page 52 - Sotheby's Chinese Art and Porcelain Auction New York September 12, 2018

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A RARE RELIEF-CARVED WHITE-GLAZED decorated with a lotus pond motif, from the collections of
‘DRAGON AND PHOENIX’ VASE L. Allen Lewis, J. Pierpont Morgan and Marsten J. Perry,
sold at Christie’s London, 24th and 25th June 1974, lot 108,
QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD
and again, 11th June 1990, lot 217; a vase of baluster form,
the cylindrical body supported on a slightly splayed base with two deer-shaped handles and carved on the body with
and rising to a short neck and gently everted lipped rim, cranes amongst clouds, from the Estate of Dr. Joseph and
the body delicately carved in relief with a sinuous chilong Donna Lee Boggs, sold in our London rooms, 7th November
confronting a soaring phoenix amid Þ ve swooping bats and 2012, lot 110; and a vase with a compressed globular body,
scrolling clouds, all between a ruyi-head border at the canted decorated in relief with a Þ ve-clawed dragon, sold in our
shoulder, surmounted by a band of four bats encircling the Hong Kong rooms, 3rd October 2017, lot 3603. Vases of this
neck, and a key fret band around the foot, the base incised type with an impressed Qianlong mark were also produced;
with a six-character seal mark see one of baluster form, modeled with four handles at the
Height 10¾ in., 27.3 cm shoulders and decorated with a ß ower scroll, published
in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
The present vase exempliÞ es the Qianlong emperor’s taste Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 239;
for archaism and innovation, and the ability of the craftsmen a pomegranate-form vase carved with a scrolling lotus and
working in the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen to cater to bat design, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included
his predilections. It belongs to a select group of imperial in the museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan
porcelain wares produced during his reign that is referred [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the
to in Chinese as ‘fang Ding yao’, or ‘in imitation of Ding Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 64; and a pear-shape
ware’ after the deep opaque white of the much celebrated version carved with lotus blooms, sold in our London rooms,
o+ cial Ding wares of the Song dynasty (960-1279). This 10th December 1991, lot 280, again at Christie’s Hong Kong,
vase is particularly notable for the crisply carved dragon 2nd November 1999, lot 528, from the collection of Robert
and phoenix which have been carefully placed with luxuriant Chang, and a third time in our London rooms, 8th November
scrolling clouds to ensure the entire space is harmoniously 2017, lot 17.
Þ lled. The form also references antiquity, resembling bronze
vessels of the Song and Ming periods in its cylindrical form, The vibrant design on the present vessel is rich in
angled shoulders and splayed foot, such as an incense tool symbolism. The sinuous dragon, emblem of the emperor,
vase, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, sold represents wisdom and power, whereas its harmonic
in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 220. counterpart, the soaring phoenix, symbol of the empress,
signiÞ es immortality and resurrection. Such symbolic union
The material used for the making of white-glazed porcelain was commonly used to decorate imperial objects starting
wares of this type is distinctive. It is a Qing innovation from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), and continued to prevail
whereby huashi replaced kaolin, allowing the vessel to be in the Qing court where they were used on vessels made in
Þ red at a lower temperature to avoid warping of the material various media.
and to create a rich creamy-white glaze that could be used
for both contemporary designs as well as making objects $ 150,000-250,000
imitating Ding wares. Further vases belonging to this group,
also incised with a six-character seal mark of Qianlong, were 㶭Ḧ昮ġġġ䘥慱㴖晽漵沛暚圈䲳䅰䰈䒞
produced in various forms and designs; see a bottle vase
˪⣏㶭Ḧ昮⸜墥˫㫦

50 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART