Page 198 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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PROPERTY FROM THE BARBARA AND LESTER LEVY 清道光 粉彩「狀元紅」瓶
COLLECTION
A RARE MOLDED FAMILLE-ROSE ‘WINE JAR’ 來源:
MEIPING, QING DYNASTY, DAOGUANG PERIOD
Ronald W. Longsdorf 收藏
with eight inscribed cartouches imitating content labels:
Zhuang Yuan Hong (a type of wine), Zhe Shao (Zhejiang and
Shaoxing), De run zheng ji (shop mark), Shaoxing laojiu (old
Shaoxing wine)
Height 7⅝ in., 19.5 cm
PROVENANCE
Collection of Ronald W. Longsdorf.
Still produced and imbibed today, Zhuang Yuan Hong is a
traditional rice wine from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province.
In the Shaoxing region, it was customary for locals to bury
a jar of wine when a child was born. The wine would be
unearthed and enjoyed on his or her wedding day, or in
the case of a son, if he returned home successful after the
imperial examinations. Such wine jars were often colorfully
decorated or carved with floral designs, hence Shaoxing
wine has become synonymous with the term huadiao jiu
(‘floral carved wine’).
The present vase faithfully imitates these wine jars, from
the descriptive content labels to the surrounding elaborate
wickerwork, a feature still found on large Shaoxing wine
vessels today. Given the celebratory connotations of
these wine jars, relating to births, marriages, and scholarly
success, it is possible porcelain ‘Zhuang Yuan Hong’ vessels
such as this piece were gifted as auspicious presents.
Compare a similar meiping, of Daoguang mark and
period, also from the Levy Collection, sold in these rooms,
20th September 2023, lot 535.
Compare a related Daoguang period meiping in the collection
420 of the Palace Museum, Beijing, vibrantly enameled in red
with molded wickerwork designs, also with similar labels,
PROPERTY FROM THE BARBARA AND LESTER LEVY 清光緒 約1876年 松石綠地粉彩藤夢花鳥紋 published on the Museum’s website (https://www.dpm.org.
COLLECTION cn/collection/ceramic/227001).
盌一對 《大雅齋》《天地一家春》《永慶
A PAIR OF TURQUOISE-GROUND FAMILLE-
ROSE ‘DAYAZHAI’ ‘HWAMEI AND FLOWERS’ 長春》款 $ 10,000-15,000
BOWLS, QING DYNASTY, GUANGXU PERIOD,
CIRCA 1876
each with a three-character Dayazhai mark, a five-character
Tiandi yi jia chun oval seal mark, the base with a four-
character Yongqing changchun mark, all in iron red (2)
Diameter 5¾ in., 14.5 cm
$ 10,000-15,000

392 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 393