Page 35 - Fine Imperial Porcelain at Sothebys Hong Kong April 3 2019

This piece has been masterfully executed to resemble the
celebrated blue and white wares of the early 15th century
through the use of the ‘heaped and piled’ technique to
render the designs. By carefully manipulating the cobalt
pigment the craftsman of the present piece has successfully
simulated the uneven blue tones characteristic of the early
Ming period that occurred naturally as a result of the firing
process.
A closely related example was included in The Exhibition
of Chinese Ceramics of Eight Dynasties, National Museum
of History, Beijing, 1987, p. 65; another was exhibited in
Beauty and Tranquillity. The Eli Lily Collection of Chinese
Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1983, cat. no.
116; and another from the T.Y. Chao family collection was
included in the exhibition Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah
Kwong Collection, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 66, recently sold with its pair in our
rooms, 1st December 2017, lots 323 and 325. See also a flask
from the collection of R.I.C. Herridge sold in these rooms,
28th November 1978, lot 235; and another sold in our Paris
rooms, 18th December 2009, lot 263.
The design of peaches and bats, with its highly auspicious
message, appears to have originated in the Yongzheng reign
and grew in popularity during the Qianlong period, when
it was represented in all possible media. The bat (fu) and
peach (shoutao) create the pun fushou shuangquan (‘May
you have both blessings and longevity’), which makes this
piece particularly suited to be presented as a gift on the
occasion of a birthday.

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