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PROPERTY FROM AN ASIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION For similar handled vases, compare a closely related
example, also of Shendetang mark, featuring a continuous
A FINE BLUE-GROUND FAMILLE-ROSE ‘BOYS’
VASE, QING DYNASTY, DAOGUANG PERIOD scene of figures racing dragon boats against a bright-
blue ground, illustrated in Porcelains with Inscription of
the base with a four-character Shendetang zhi hall mark in Shendetang Collected by the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2014,
iron red pp 204-207; two painted with a continuous scene of boys
Height 13¼ in., 33.8 cm setting off firecrackers in celebration of Chinese New Year
sold in these rooms, 28th November 1994, lot 382 and 383,
PROVENANCE the first with yellow and turquoise-ground flower-scroll
Private Collection, acquired in New York in 1958. borders, and the second with a pink ground and elaborate
Sotheby’s New York, 15th September 2010, lot 263. dragon handles; another pair of pink-ground Shendetang
vases sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29th-30th November
Vibrantly painted with a charming scene of boys at play, 2018, lot 430; and another vase, with a Daoguang reign
this elaborate vase belongs to a select group of porcelain mark and of the period, sold from the collection of Edward T.
wares made during the Daoguang reign to furnish his Chow, in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 597.
newly built Shendetang (Hall of Prudent Virtue). Part of
the Jizhou Qingyan palace complex in the Yuanming Yuan, $ 60,000-80,000
the Shendetang was completed in 1831, and became the
Emperor’s preferred residence. Featuring three connecting 清道光 藍地粉彩開光嬰戲圖雙耳瓶 《慎德堂
wave roofs on a square-shaped structure, the hall was
markedly different from the more characteristic Confucian- 製》款
inspired architecture, a feature that was reflected in the style 來源
of porcelain that was lavishly produced for it. This special
group of wares are attributable to two decades between 1831 私人收藏，1958年得於紐約
and 1850 and are often characterized by novel and lavish 紐約蘇富比2010年9月15日，編號263
designs, as seen with the present vase.
The present vase is painted with four lively scenes depicting
boys at play: chasing butterflies, playing with prunus
branches, holding a ruyi scepter up, and carrying vases
together. This motif, often referred to as the ‘Hundred Boys’
(baizi) appears to trace its origins to the Song dynasty and
is understood to reference fabled sons of King Wen – the
legendary father of King Wu of Zhou – who had ninety-nine
sons and adopted one more to make one hundred. By the
Ming dynasty, this motif had come to represent the wish
for many sons, and was reproduced on a variety of media,
adopted and adapted throughout the ages with ever more
creative and idyllic designs. The present portrayal, rendering
the boys with dynamism and vigour framed in a serene
backdrop, speaks to the artistic flair of the Qing artisan,
while the vase’s even pale-blue ground and exquisite famille-
rose enamels work in union to exude a sense of elegance; a
testament to the potter’s technical mastery.

504 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 505