Page 138 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

The Property of a Lady 女士藏品
108
A RARE AND LARGE BLUE AND WHITE ‘PEONY’ MOONFLASK,
BIANHU
18th century
The circular body rising from a splayed oval foot to a short cylindrical
neck, the convex sides of the flattened body meticulously painted in
vibrant tones of cobalt-blue and enhanced by simulated ‘heaping and
piling’ effect with large blooming peony heads borne on dense leafy
scrolls, the sides similarly decorated with composite floral scroll and
with two raised bosses decorated with a floret, all below the neck
painted with a band of flower heads.
44.5cm (17.2in) high.
£15,000 - 20,000
CNY130,000 - 180,000
十八世紀 青花纏枝花卉紋扁壺

Provenance: an English private collection

來源：英國私人收藏

The present lot appears to be particularly rare among the various the garlic neck, flaring foot, and the shape of the handles which can
types of moonflasks made in the 18th century, distinguished by its be compared with a Yongle moonflask, such as illustrated by Geng
exceptional floral motif and particular shape. There are only two known Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early
comparable examples of moonflasks with similar motif and shape, Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002,
both bearing a Qianlong seal mark and of the period. One is illustrated vol.1, pl.22.
in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue
and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red, Hong Kong, 2000, pl.139; Other than the shape of ceramics, the painting style of the early
the other is in the Mak Museum, Vienna (ac.no.KE 1544-2). Ming period was consciously recreated during the Qing dynasty. The
current flask is a demonstration of how porcelain painters in the 18th
The current moonflask encapsulates the combination of archaism century took inspiration from the appearance of early 15th century
and creativity at the Qing Court. During the reign of the Yongzheng blue and white. The painters imitated the deliberate uneven darker
emperor, Ming dynasty moonflasks began to be imitated on a large cobalt spots from the Ming prototypes, the so-called ‘heaped and
scale. The Yongzheng designs follow the Ming forms closely, either piled’ effect. Another example of archaism re-worked in the Qianlong
with a raised boss or a flat body, with a straight neck or a garlic neck. court is the use of the peony motif. The peony had long been favoured
During the reign of the Qianlong emperor, other than the existing by poets and scholars as ‘the king of flowers’ and symbolised the
models, the artists of the imperial kilns appear to have been keen Imperial family, which as early as the Tang dynasty grew it in the palace
on diversifying the shapes of moonflasks. It is noted that flasks of gardens. Grand in stature and magnificently decorated, the motif of
this description are recorded from the second year of Qianlong peony depicted on the present moonflask is characteristic of the 18th
(corresponding to 13 October 1737) in the Qinggong Neiwufu century style where stylised petals radiate from the ruyi pistils. The
Zaobanchu huoji dang’an zonghui [Documents in the Archives of representation of ruyi pistils can be traced back to the 15th century;
the Workshop of the Qing Palace Imperial Household Department]. compare with a blue and white temple vase dated 1496 in the British
According to this document, the Qianlong emperor commissioned Museum, illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British
a number of archaistic ceramics, he specifically asked Tang Ying Museum, London, 2001, pp.174, fig.2. The deliberate selection of this
(the renowned supervisor of the imperial kilns) to diversify the forms motif shows an interplay between elegance and archaic stateliness
of Yongle and Xuande mooonflasks in different glazes. The shapes from the combination of peony and ruyi.
became more complex where the body is not only circular but can
also be hexagonal, octagonal, oval, quatrefoil, peach etc. The present A related blue and white moonflask, Yongzheng period, was sold at
flask is an example of combination of elements from Ming shapes, Christie’s London, 6 November 2018, lot 171.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
136 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.