Page 82 - Sotheby's Chinese Art and Porcelain Auction New York September 12, 2018

160

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN PRIVATE colors, complex and densely interwoven layout, naturalistic
COLLECTION representation of blooms and leaves and an astonishing
A FINE AND RARE ‘MILLE-FLEURS’ BOTTLE attention to detail, this design must have been one of the
VASE most challenging for the imperial porcelain painters to
master. The Chinese name for this type of dense design
JIAQING SEAL MARK AND PERIOD jiacai (‘mixed or mingled colors’) appropriately describes the
multitude of famille-rose shades used.
Þ nely potted, the slightly compressed globular body
sweeping to a tall cylindrical neck and ß aring rim, brilliantly The idea for this demanding design appears to originate
enameled in varying tones of pinks, greens, iron red, blue, from the imperial enameling workshops in the Forbidden City
yellow and lavender with a rich profusion of ß owers centering in Beijing, where in the Kangxi reign it was tried on a minute
on a large peony bloom with petals of pale pink edges copper vessel, a water pot of less than 3 cm height, which
deepening to crimson at the center, amid further blossoms is still preserved in the Palace Museum today. Although a
including chrysanthemum, morning glory, rose, hibiscus and large number of di" erent ß owers appear on that vessel, their
aster, all against a dense ground of green, leafy foliage, a gilt arrangement is less dense and the background was covered
line encircling the top of the base and the rim, the interior with yellow enamel.
and base glazed turquoise, the base with a six-character seal A Jiaqing mark and period vase of ovoid form, in the Nanjing
mark in iron red reserved within a white square
Museum, is published in The O! cial Kiln Porcelain of the
Height 12¼ in., 31.1.cm
Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 357; its possible
pair, in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Chugoku
PROVENANCE
toji zenshu, vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 144; and another of
Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st-3rd May 1994, lot 678A.
compressed globular form was sold in our London rooms,
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5th November 1996, lot 892.
17th November 1999, lot 765.
The mille-ß eurs pattern – in Chinese wan hua dui, (‘ten
For a Qianlong mark and period version, see a baluster vase
thousand ß owers piled up’,) or bai hua tu, (‘hundred ß owers
in the Musée Guimet, Paris, included in Oriental Ceramics.
design’) – with its joyful evocation of nature’s abundance is
The World’s Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 52;
such a universally appealing motif that it is extremely well
and a compressed pear-shaped vase, from the Avery
known despite being exceedingly rare. It was developed
Brundage Collection and now in the Asian Art Museum of
on porcelain in the imperial factories under the keen eye
San Francisco, published in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New
of the Yongzheng wmperor and the rigorous scrutiny of
Comprehensive Study, New York, 1996, pl. 665.
the kiln supervisor Tang Ying. With its multitude of enamel
$ 250,000-350,000
㶭▱ㄞġġġ䰱⼑叔剙拎䲳攟柠䒞
˪⣏㶭▱ㄞ⸜墥˫㫦
Ը๕
楁㷗Ἓ⢓⼿1994⸜5㚰1军3㖍炻䶐嘇678A
楁㷗喯⭴㭼1996⸜11㚰5㖍炻䶐嘇892

80 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART