Page 18 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION The motif of this finely painted vase derives from early Ming
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE HEXAGONAL VASE blue and white porcelain. Fruiting and flowering branches
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG first appeared on underglaze-blue porcelain during the
Yongle reign, a time when the potters at the imperial kilns
of hexagonal section, superbly painted in vibrant tones of in Jingdezhen achieved enormous developments in the
cobalt blue enhanced by simulated ‘heaping and piling’, refinement of materials and expansion of the decorative
decorated around the sides with alternating fruiting and floral repertoire. Blue and white vases of meiping form decorated
sprays issuing pomegranate, peach, peony, chrysanthemum, with related fruiting and flowering branches are among
lychee and lotus growing amidst slender leafy branches, all the most characteristic products of the Yongle period; for
within ruyi head borders, the waisted neck decorated with examples, see a vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated
stylised foliate scrolls below further ruyi heads and a band of in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
dots, the shoulder with raised bands decorated with keyfret Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, vol. 1, Hong
and foliate sprays, the foot encircled by bands of scrollwork, Kong, 2000, pl. 30. Even the mottled cobalt ‘heaping and
floral sprays, and rolling waves, the base inscribed with a six- piling’ effect of the 15th-century originals was painstakingly
character seal mark reproduced by the Qing craftsmen in a display of their
44.5 cm, 17½ in. proficiency over the pigment.
Like many other blue and white wares of the early Ming
PROVENANCE period, this design was reinvented and transformed during
Christie’s London, 13th December 1982, lot 574. the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign before becoming one of
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 12th May 1983, lot 181. the favourites of the Qianlong Emperor. A new life has been
breathed into the Qing versions through the hexagonal form
HK$ 1,200,000-1,800,000 and the inclusion of European-style elements such as the
US$ 156,000-233,000 scrolls on the neck. The familiar traditional Chinese motifs
coupled with the secondary European-style designs not only
provide an attractive aesthetic but also firmly celebrate the
清乾隆 青花折枝花果紋六方瓶 imperial authority of Qing China.

《大清乾隆年製》款 The Yongzheng prototype, as seen on a vase from the
Grandidier collection and now in the Musée Guimet, Paris,
來源： is decorated around the neck with stems of flowers divided
倫敦佳士得1982年12月13日，編號574 by European-inspired scrollwork (Oriental Ceramics. The
World’s Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 164). A group
香港蘇富比1983年5月12日，編號181 of Qianlong examples closely follows the prototype closely,
suggesting that they were produced early in the Qianlong
period. However, with more generous proportions and stylised
scrolls without floral sprays around the neck, the present vase
is highly unusual.
For the slightly more common type of Qianlong hexagonal
floral vases, see an example in the Nanjing Museum,
illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing
Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 212; one published in Selected
Masterpieces of the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1975, pl.
102; another, sold twice in these rooms, 30th April 1991, lot
73, and 5th October 2011, lot 1920, included in Sotheby’s Hong
Kong – Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 166; a further vase,
sold in these rooms, 20th May 1981, lot 764 and illustrated in
Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and
Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 274, fig. 469.

Mark

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