Page 90 - Chinese Art Paris Auction Christie's December 2017

The picturesque scenes of deers in rocky, tree-strewn landscape
were probably intended to represent deers in the imperial gardens
and hunting parks. The theme of ‘hundred deer’ was adopted on
porcelains since the middle Ming period, and can be seen on a Wanli
(1573-1620) wucai jar in the Musée Guimet, Paris (illustrated in The
World’s Great Collections - Oriental Ceramics Vol. 7 - Musée Guimet,
Paris, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1981, no. 26) and on the pair of large blue
and white Wanli jars given to Queen Christina of Sweden by the
Portuguese Ambassador (see The World’s Great Collections - Oriental
Ceramics Vol. 8 - Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm,
Kodansha, Tokyo, 1982, fg. 247). The subject of deers was more
popular than ever during emperor Qianlong’s reign, as exemplifed
by a hanging scroll by one of the most revered Jesuit who served
the Qing imperial court, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1768); sold at
Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1207.
This present vase is particularly outstanding because of the exquisite
quality of the painting. The brushwork and the colours applied to the
rocks, trees and deers are all rendered with incredible realistic accuracy
and artistic ingenuity. Examples of hu-shaped vases with this design
are in various museum and private collections: one from the Beijing
Palace Museum, is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel
© RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier single vase, also in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Chugoku Toji
Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 98-99, pl. 85;
a pair is in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Selected
Ceramics
from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Hu, Shanghai, 1989, pl. 67; a
Zenshu, vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 103; and in the Hong Kong Museum of
Art Collection, included in the exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter’s
Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 119, no. 71. and
another from the Grandidier Collection in the Musée Guimet (fg. 1).,
Paris, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections,
Kodansha Series, Tokyo, 1981, vol. 7, pl. 190.
Compare also with three other similar vases, the frst from the British
Rail Pension Fund was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 16 May 1989, lot
89; the second, from the collection of a medical doctor who worked
sold at Christie’s Paris, 14 December 2011, lot 170; and the last, from
an American private collection, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30
May 2012, lot 3990.
(fig. 1). Collection of Mr. Grandidier, Musée Guimet, Paris, inv. n° G4225. in the German embassy in Beijing during the early 20th century, was

88