Page 180 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

THE PROPERTY OF MARCHANT, EST. 1925
1212
A SMALL CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL BOTTLE VASE
QIANLONG INCISED FOUR-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The bulbous body is decorated with lotus scroll bearing four blossoms between two narrow, blue
ruyi-head borders and below the tall neck encircled by raised bands of classic scroll that border two
fower sprays on the lower neck and two lotus sprays on the upper neck. The gilded base is inscribed
with the Qianlong reign mark in a horizontal line above a shi character.
5¡ in. (13.6 cm.) high

$50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE
An Important Private Collection; Sotheby’s London, 6 November 2013, lot 141.
The present vase belongs to a group of imperial cloisonné enamel bottle vases that each bears an
additional character above or below the Qianlong reign mark. The use of the additional character is
discussed by Sir H. Garner in Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, London, 1962, p. 92, where
the author notes that the “use of characters in addition to a nian hao seems to be peculiar to cloisonné”.
A related lotus scroll vase and circular box and cover are illustrated ibid., pl. 69A.
The exact purpose of these characters remains mysterious, although scholars have speculated that
they may have been intended to group the cloisonné pieces into sets. One such vase of similar size
and design, but with a melon-shaped body and handles fanking the neck, is catalogued as a tool vase
in a garniture set holding chopsticks and spatula, is illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the
Palace Museum - Enamels (2) - Cloisonné in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Beijing, 2011, pl. 160. Another
example, with a more elongated body, and inscribed with a Qianlong mark above the character se, is
illustrated in The Prime Cultural Relics Collected by Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum - The Enamel
Volume, Shenyang, 2007, p.9, pl. 6.
A related vase in the Phoenix Art Museum, inscribed with the character duan, was included in the
exhibition Cloisonné, Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, 2011, and illustrated in
the Catalogue, p. 291, no. 130. Another related cloisonné bottle vase, but with the character dun below
the mark, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Reverence and Perfection - Magnifcent Imperial Cloisonné
Enamels from a Private European Collection, 29 May 2013, lot 2056.
清乾隆 掐絲琺瑯蓮紋小長頸瓶 四字楷書及「史」字刻款

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