Lot 195. A large qiangjin and tianqi-decorated lacquer rectangular ‘dragon’ box and cover, Wanli period (1573-1620), 23 in. (58.5 cm.) wide, box. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000 (USD 25,854 - USD 38,781). Price realised HKD 275,000 (USD 35,549) © Christie’s Images Limited 2017.

The cover has canted corners and is finely decorated in qiangjin andtianqi on the flat top with two five-clawed dragons contesting a flaming pearl, surrounded by breaking waves crashing againt moutain peaks, all against a red ground. The sides are decorated with pairs of confronting dragons against a yellow ground. The box stands on four bracket feet linked by shaped spandrels, and is similarly decorated around the sides with striding dragons, and around the feet with a continuous floral scroll. The interior and the base are lacquered black.

Note: Although the current box and cover appears to be unique, several other comparable boxes and covers are known and published, all with slightly different designs. A qiangjin and tianqi box (47.8 cm. wide) of similar form incised with a Wanli cyclical mark and decorated with two dragons centred around a shou character from the Lee Family collection is illustrated in Dragon and Phoenix - Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Tokyo, 1990, no. 82, p. 190-191. Another (36.6 cm. wide), also with Wanli cyclical mark and decorated with two dragons centred on auspicious emblems, from the Palace Museum, is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2006, no. 177, pp. 224-225.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale - Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 4 April 2017, Hong Kong

Photo: Sotheby's.

4 avril, 2017 – Ce soir à Hong Kong, Sotheby’s a établi un nouveau record mondial aux enchères pour un diamant et une pierre précieuse vendu aux enchères, avec la vente du « Pink Star », un diamant rose ovale (« oval mixed cut ») de 59,60 carats, « Fancy Vivid Pink »  et «Internally Flawless » pour US$ 71,2 millions (HK$553 millions). Le « Pink Star » a été acquis par la prestigieuse joaillerie basée à Hong Kong, Chow Tai Fook, dont le Président, Dr. Henry Cheng Kar-Shun a remporté l’enchère. Le « Pink Star » a été rebaptisé le « CTF Pink » en hommage au feu Dr. Cheng Yu-Tung, père de l’actuel président et fondateur de Chow Tai Fook, et pour commémorer le 88ème anniversaire de la marque.

« Il convient que ce soit le propriétaire de la plus prestigieuse maison joaillière de Chine qui établit un nouveau prix record pour un lot vendu aux enchères en Asie, ainsi qu’un nouveau record mondial pour une pierre précieuse vendue aux enchères – qui sera à présent nommé le CTF Pink - a commenté Tad Smith, CEO de Sotheby’s, ajoutant, « C’est un honneur et un réel plaisir pour Sotheby’s que d’avoir été au service ce client exigeant depuis de nombreuses années. » 

David Bennett, Président mondial du département international de Haute Joaillerie, a commenté: « Je suis ravi de voir ce diamant d’une beauté rarissime atteindre – à très juste titre - le meilleur résultat jamais vu aux enchères pour une pierre précieuse. Le prix représente plus du double du record mondial pour un diamant « Fancy Vivid Pink » que nous avons établi l’année dernière à Genève. »

Le « CTF Pink » fait à présent partie de la remarquable collection de pierres de Chow Tai Fook, aux côtés du « Aurora Green », un diamant « Vivid Green » pesant 5,03 carats et acquis en 2016 pour HK$130 millions / US$16,8 millions (un record mondial pour un diamant vert) et le « Cullinan Heritage » un diamant brut d’une rareté exceptionnelle pesant 507 carats acheté en 2010 pour HK$275 millions / US$35,3 millions et poli au cours de trois ans pour donner le chef-d’œuvre « A Heritage in Bloom ».

Mellen, Inc., partenaires de Sotheby’s dans le « Pink Star », a déclaré, « Mellen a eu le privilège d’être partenaire de Sotheby’s lors de la vente du « Pink Star » et nous félicitons son nouveau propriétaire, qui possède à présent un des plus grands trésors connus au monde. Nous remercions Sotheby’s pour leur collaboration et nous réjouissons de poursuivre notre tradition de proposer d’exceptionnelles pierres précieuses à une clientèle des plus avisées. »

Le « Pink Star », diamant «Fancy Vivid Pink» de taille ovale pesant 59,60 carats d’une clarté«Internally Flawless» se vend pour US$71,2 millions (HK$553 millions). Acquis par la maison joaillière de Hong Kong Chow Tai Fook, et rebaptisé Le « CTF Pink ». Photo: Sotheby's.

Le diamant «Pink Star»

Estiméà plus de 60 millions de dollars, ce diamant rose ovale (« oval mixed cut ») de 59,60 carats est le plus grand diamant « Fancy Vivid Pink »  et «Internally Flawless » jamais certifié par le Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Le Pink Star possède non seulement le plus haut degré de couleur¹ et de pureté pour un diamant rose d’après la classification du GIA, mais il s’avère également être un diamant de type IIa, une catégorie très recherchée ne comprenant que 2 % des diamants répertoriés dans le monde. Le diamant brut de 132,5 carats dont est extrait le Pink Star a été découvert par De Beers en Afrique en 1999, puis taillé avec le plus grand soin : il a fallu près de deux ans pour révéler ce diamant magnifique.

·         Record précédent pour un diamant et une pierre précieuse: «Oppenheimer Blue » vendu par Christie’s Genève en mai 2016 pour US$57,5 millions.

·         Record précédent pour un diamant «Fancy Vivid Pink: «The Unique Pink» – un diamant taille poire de 15,38 carats « Fancy Vivid Pink » vendu chez Sotheby’s à Genève en mai 2016 pour US$31’561’200.

Plus du double du précédent record pour un diamant «Fancy Vivid Pink». Prix record pour un lot vendu aux enchères en Asie. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 3614. A fine and extremely rare blue and white 'dragon and phoenix' vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 37.3 cm, 14 5/8  in. Estimate 30,000,000 — 40,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 44,537,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

finely and sturdily potted with a rectangular baluster body rising from a splayed foot to a waisted neck and flared rim, the neck flanked by a pair of stylised archaistic animal handles detailed in shaded tones of cobalt with archaistic scrollwork and surmounted by a spiralled knop, each of the main sides decorated with a ferocious dragon with outstretched claws and a scaly body coiling sinuously around a 'flaming pearl', the two shorter sides decorated with two meticulously rendered phoenix, precisely and delicately detailed with fine plumage and long billowing tail feathers, all between a key-fret band and an upright lappet border encircling the lower neck and body respectively, below four stylised bats and a pendent lappet frieze encircling the neck and rim, all against a ground of ruyi cloud scrolls, the foot skirted by a further pendent lappet border, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: The Matsuyama Collection (label).

Inscription on box

Lot 3612. An extremely rare and large blue and white 'lion' bowl, Ming dynasty, Chenghua period (1465-1487), 20.6 cm, 8 1/8  in.. Estimate 3,000,000 — 5,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 15,700,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

superbly potted with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a flared rim, the exterior painted in bold cobalt-blue tones depicting lions frolicking amid the babao playfully chasing beribboned brocade balls, the mythical felines detailed with long-haired manes, bushy tails and powerful limbs, all above overlapping lotus lappets, the interior similarly decorated with a central medallion enclosing two lions romping around a beribboned ball, all divided by double line borders, covered overall with an unctuous glaze, the base inscribed with an apocryphal Xuande mark within a double circle 

Provenance: Christie's London, 12th November 2004, lot 224.

Note: Chenghua porcelains, considered among the most idiosyncratic and distinct creations of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, are perhaps the most highly sought after of all Chinese imperial porcelains. Their porcelain body and glaze are arguably the finest that have ever been created, imbuing each piece with an outstanding tactile quality, while their unobtrusive yet sophisticated designs are executed in a captivating, complex and yet free and easy painting manner.

The present piece is a particularly rare and unusual example of Chenghua ware. Only one other closely related bowl appears to have been published, unearthed from the waste heaps of the imperial kilns, included in the exhibition A Legacy of Chenghua. Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. A11, where it is noted that this piece and other fragments of bowls and dishes of this design and mark were excavated at the early Chenghua accumulation no. 87 (see p. 52). Jiang Jianxin adds that the excavated bowl "is the earliest known example where the reign mark of a previous era has been inscribed on a piece of imperial porcelain," a practice that only became widely employed in later periods (p. 110).

Blue and white ‘seven lions and balls’ bowl, Ming dynasty, Chenghua period, apocryphal Xuande mark© Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute

The motif and its bold painterly style of the present bowl, closely following that of the Xuande reign, also support an early Chenghua date. During the Chenghua period, Xuande blue and white porcelain was considered to be the finest ever produced and thus served as inspiration. The apocryphal mark on the base of this bowl, probably to honour the great accomplishments during the earlier reign and to acknowledge the borrowing of the design, further reveals the appreciation of Xuande porcelain. Despite these similarities with Xuande wares, the cobalt of the present bowl is typical of early Chenghua blue and white wares in its fluidity and lack of heaping and piling.

A similar motif of Buddhist lions is also known on a Chenghua mark and period dish, included in the exhibition The Emperor's Broken china, Sotheby's London, 1995, cat. no. 93, together with a reconstructed ewer also painted with lions, cat. no. 48; and another dish, exhibited in A Legacy of Chenghua, op.cit., pl. B26, together with a stem cup, cat. no. A8, and a box, cat. no. C48. For another Xuande-marked Chenghua blue and white decorated bowl, see one painted with a lotus scroll included ibid., cat. no. C71.

The motif of lions playing with beribboned balls is well known from early 15th century porcelain, such as a jar with Xuande mark and of the period in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 1-32; and a dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum's exhibition Ming Xuande ciqi tezhan mulu [Special exhibition of Xuande wares], Taipei, 1980, cat. no. 59. It carries auspicious associations symbolising physical and spiritual power and conveying wishes for high rank.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3611. A fine blue and white barbed 'floral scroll' dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424), 33.7 cm, 13 1/4  in.. Estimate 5,000,000 — 7,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 6,700,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

well potted with rounded sides divided into twelve bracket foliations, rising from a short tapered foot to a barbed everted rim, painted in vivid tones of cobalt blue with 'heaped and piled' accents, the slightly recessed interior centred with a large barbed medallion of lotus, surrounded by blooms of camellia, lotus, chrysanthemum, mallow and dianthus borne on foliate scrolls within a barbed border, further encircled around the cavetto by detached sprays of chrysanthemum, pomegranate, hibiscus, peony, morning glory and lotus, each repeated twice and paired across the dish, save for the lotus matched with another blossom, below a border of crested waves on the the rim, the exterior painted with similar detached floral sprays within double line borders, the base and bevelled footring left unglazed 

Provenance: Spink & Son, London, June 1967.
Collection of Mr F. Gordon and Mrs Elizabeth Hunter Morrill.
Doyle's New York, 16th September 2003, lot 81.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8th April 2013, lot 3018.

Exhibited: Recent acquisitions, S. Marchant & Son, London, 2004, no. 1.
Ming Porcelain, Marchant, London, 2009, no. 2.

Note: The present dish is a fine example of the technical developments achieved by the early Ming dynasty. Yongle porcelains are characterised by their particularly deep blue cobalt, which fired to a dark deep blue in some parts and pale blue in others. This silvery-black and crystal-like separation of colours is known as the 'heaped and piled' effect, and the intensity of tones was highlighted by the finely potted white body of the porcelain clay.

One of the decorative innovations of early 15th century wares was the use of separate floral sprays or bunches of flowers in the cavettos instead of the continuous scroll. The heavy wreath of lotus or peony found on 14th century dishes gave way to more varied series of formalised motifs. 12 flower sprays consisting of two sets were commonly repeated in order so that each flower was diametrically opposite its pair. With each flower spray encircled by a circular stem with leaves, the present dish is characteristic of the delicate variety that occurred within Yongle design schemes.

A similar dish in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, pl. 601; another in the Percival David Foundation is published in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, 1982, vol. 6, no. 76; one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Special Exhibition of Early Ming Porcelains, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, cat. no. 38; a fourth is published in Mayuyama. Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 753; other dishes of this design include two in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated in Jan Wirgin, Chinese Ceramics from the Axel and Nora Lundgren Bequest, Stockholm, 1978, pl. 27, no. 25, and one in the Swedish Royal Collection, published in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 216. An example from the Mottahedeh Collection, illustrated in Michael Howard and John Ayers, China for the West. Chinese Porcelain and Other Decorative Arts for Export, vol. 1, New York, 1978, p. 12, was sold in our New York rooms, 20th September 2000, lot 105. Another comparable example was on loan to the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, Durham, sold at Christie's London, 9th November 2004, lot 131 and again in these rooms, 5th October 2016, lot 3630.

Compare also a Yongle dish of similar pattern, but with delicate lotus scrolls instead of waves around the barbed rim, sold in our London rooms, 14th March 1972, lot 132, in these rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 463, and again 8th April 2009, lot 1670, and exhibited in Chinese Art from the Reach Family Collection, Eskenazi, London, 1989, cat. no. 35; and another sold recently in these rooms, 5th October 2016, lot 3715.

The close interaction between China and the Middle East as reflected in blue and white porcelain of the early Ming dynasty is discussed in the exhibition catalogue Ming: 50 Years that Changed China, the British Museum, London, 2014, pp. 86-95.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3620. A rare large blue and white ring-shaped box and cover, Mark and period of Jiajing (1522-1566), 39 cm, 15 3/8  in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,500,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,940,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

with cylindrical sides boldly painted in bright cobalt-blue tones, depicting five-clawed dragons striding amongst undulating leafy lotus scrolls, their sinuous bodies carefully picked out with scales, the top of the slightly domed cover similarly painted with two further dragons striding amidst a lotus meander, their mouths agape revealing sharp fangs and their manes billowing behind, the muscular legs terminating in powerful claws, all divided by double line borders, inscribed to one side of the cover with a rectangular cartouche enclosing a six-character reign mark

Provenance: The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong.
Christie’s New York, 18th September 1997, lot 155..

Literature: Ryoichi Fujioka, Sekai Toji Zenshu/Collection of World's Ceramics, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 214, fig. 57.
Beauty and Tranquillity: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1983, p. 256, fig. a. 
The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 81.

Note: An innovation of the Jiajing reign, this impressive piece belongs to a rare group of large ring-shaped boxes produced for the emperor. Commonly referred to as chaozhu he ('box for court jewels'), this type is listed by Geng Baochang in Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, fig. 233, no. 3, where he describes it as chuanling shi he, in reference to its shape. As the name suggests, boxes of this type are believed to have been used as containers for precious court accessories, such as necklaces or belts which often consisted of beads, plaques or pendants made from precious stones which were strung together. The circular form of this piece would have allowed for jewellery to be stored in an orderly and safe manner. 

In their size and unusual form these boxes display the high level of experimentation exercised by potters active at Jingdezhen in the 16th century, when an increasing number of porcelain vessels of unconventional shapes began to appear. Boxes of this form were constructed through the use of moulds, and the present type is particularly notable due to its large and regular size. Only two Jiajing boxes of this type appear to have been published, the first was included in A Special Exhibition of the Huang Ding Xuan Collection, Kaohsiung Museum of History, 1999, cat. no. 36; and the second from the Eli Lilly Collection, was sold in our New York rooms, 1st/2nd June 1993, lot 306.

A Jiajing mark and period box of this form and large size, but painted with Daoist immortals, from the Rogers fund in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 168; and one painted with cranes and bagua, illustrated in Ma Xigui, ed., Mei zai taoci. Qinghua Ming ci/ Beauty of Ceramics. Blue and White Porcelain, Taipei, 1993, pl. 53. Compare also a box of this shape but painted with Daoist immortals against an iron-red ground, from the Eli Lilly Collection, included in the exhibition Beauty and Tranquillity: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1983, cat. no. 102, where the present box is illustrated as a comparative example, p. 256, fig. a.

Boxes of related ring shape but of smaller size were also made in lacquer, such as one attributed to the Wanli period, sold in our New York rooms, 15th June 1983.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3623. A fine blue and white 'phoenix' mallet vase, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722), 24 cm, 9 1/2  in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,500,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,220,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the bell-shaped body rising to a tall tubular neck with a slightly lipped rim supported on a raised footring, painted on both sides with a highly stylised kui phoenix design, its head on the neck of the vase dissolving into abstract blue scrolls draping over the shoulders against a plain white ground, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark written in three columns within a double circle

Provenance: Christie's New York, 2nd December 1989, lot 358.
The Meiyintang Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th October 2011, lot 32.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 754.

Note: A vase of this design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Qing dynasty imperial kilns in the Palace Museum collection], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, part 1, pl. 47, together with a Yongzheng version, part 2, pl. 40; another Kangxi vase in the National Museum of China, Beijing, is published in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section], Qingdai [Qing dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 2. The design was also executed in underglaze copper red; for an example in the Shanghai Museum see Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 14, pl. 24; and for one in Taipei, Gugong Qing ci tulu. Kangxi yao, Yongzheng yao/Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Republic of China. K'ang-hsi Ware and Yung-cheng Ware, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 21.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3675. A blue and white 'boys' box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620), 22 cm, 8 5/8  in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,620,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of circular form, brightly painted in vivid shades of cobalt blue, the stepped domed cover with a central medallion enclosing sixteen boys at play in a fenced garden, with a boy dressed as a dignitary seated on a chair at the centre leading other boys around to read, beside a boy flying a kite and another group of boys gathered around a table, in the foreground a boy holding a flag behind another boy wearing an official hat riding on a hobby horse, next to another group of boys at play with garden foliage, the sides of the cover and the box decorated with striding dragons in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', the rims encircled by the babao alternating with stylised lingzhi sprays, skirted around the foot with a band of foliate scrolls, the base with a six-character reign mark within a double circle

Literature: Svenska hem i ord och bilder, Stockholm, 1936. 

Note: Boxes painted with this dynamic design are held in important museums and private collections worldwide: a box from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 181; one from the collection of the Zwinger in Dresden, is published in Porzellansammlung im Zwinger, Staaliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, 1982, p. 12; another in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, is illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 212; a fourth box, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is published in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 2, pl. 93; and a further example, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, was included in the Museum's exhibition Ming Blue-and-White. An Exhibition of Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia, 1949, and is illustrated in Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. XLIV, no. 223, Autumn 1949, pl. 141.

Further examples were sold at auction, such as a box from the T.Y. Chao, T.T. Tsui and Meiyintang Collections, sold in these rooms in 1987, at Christie's New York in 1997, and again in these rooms, 7th April 2011, lot 67; two sold in our New York rooms, the first, 6th November 1981, lot 270, and again, 17th March 2009, lot 99, and the second, 20th March 2007, lot 760; and another box, from the collection of Hans Oström, sold in our London rooms, 13th June 1989, lot 216.

Emil Hultmark (1872-1943) was a renowned Swedish collector and member of the small and exclusive group Kina Klubben ('China Club'), which was formed in Stockholm in the late 1920s. It comprised a number of serious collectors of Chinese porcelain, including the Crown Prince Gustav Adolf, later King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden, and Carl Kempe.

The current box and cover in situ in the country home of Emil Hultmark (1872-1943)

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3673. A blue and white 'dragon' stem cup, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), 11.9 cm, 4 5/8  in. Estimate 900,000 — 1,200,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,125,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

with shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapering foot to an everted rim, the interior decorated with a central medallion the curved rounded sides rising to a gently flared rim, supported on a splayed hollow stem moulded with horizontal ridges, applied overall save for the unglazed footring with a white glaze, the exterior decorated in cobalt blue with a single long three-clawed dragon chasing a 'flaming pearl' and writhing sinuously around the vessel, the interior centred with a further 'flaming pearl' and encircled by a classic scroll at the rim, further detailed with a moulded design of two dragons around a central rosette medallion

Note: Stem bowls with such freely executed sketches of vigorous dragons chasing 'flaming pearls' appear to have been in use throughout China during the Yuan dynasty, although extant examples are rare. Similar stem bowls, decorated both with dragons and with phoenix, were excavated from the Yuan city site at Jininglu in Inner Mongolia, see Chen Yongzhi, ed., Nei Menggu Jininglu gu cheng yizhi chutu ciqi/Porcelain Unearthed from Jininglu Ancient City Site in Inner Mongolia, Beijing, 2004, pl. 46, for a dragon stem cup, pls 42-4, for three stem bowls with phoenix, and p. 12, for several pieces packed together in a jar, as found on site. The same dragon stem bowl was included in the exhibition Yuan qinghua/Blue and White of the Yuan, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2009, cat. no. 107, together with a related piece excavated from a Yuan hoard in Anhui, cat. no. 106. Another example, excavated from the tomb of the eminent Ming official Wang Xingzu, datable to the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), is in the Nanjing Museum, published in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 33.

A stem bowl in the British Museum, London is published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 1: 24; and two similar stem bowls from the collections of Mrs. O. Harriman and Lord Cunliffe, respectively, were included in the exhibition Chinese Blue and White Porcelain: 14th to 19th Centuries, The Oriental Ceramic Society at The Arts Council Gallery, London, 1953-4, cat. nos 11 and 12. 

Lot 3681. A fine pair of blue and white 'dragon' bowls, Zhiyuan Tang zhi marks, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795), 13.4 cm, 5 1/4  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 HKD. Lot sold 475,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each well potted with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a flared rim, the exterior brightly painted in rich cobalt-blue tones with two five-clawed scaly dragons striding amongst scrolling clouds, their mouths opened revealing sharp fangs, all above tumultuous waves crashing on stylised rocky mountains, the rim and the foot encircled by double line borders, inscribed to the base with a hallmark reading Zhiyuan Tang zhi ('Hall of Extended Remoteness') within a double square

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 23rd March 1993, lot 792. 

Lot 3679. A blue and white quatrefoil handled cup, Mark and period of Jiajing (1522-1566), 9 cm, 3 1/2  in. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 HKD. Lot sold 212,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

well potted with a shapely quatrefoil body flaring to a galleried rim of corresponding form, all supported on a tall circular foot with rounded edges, flanked by a pair of handles modelled in the form of stylised mythical creatures extending to the foot, the body decorated with two coiling kui dragons wreathed by curling scrolls issuing dense foliage and lotus blooms picked out with wan stamens, all between a key-fret band encircling the rim, the foot with two pairs of mythical beasts flanking a shou medallion against a dense leiwen ground, the countersunk base inscribed with a four-character reign mark

Provenance: John Sparks Ltd, London.
Collection of Alfred Clark (1873-1950), no. 667. 

Lot 40. Chris Levine (B. 1960), Lightness of Being, 2004. Unique pigment print, flush-mounted to aluminium. Signed and dated 12 in pencil and with the photographer's blindstamp in the lower margin, image: 128.3 by 102.3cm.; 50¼ by 40¼in.; sheet: 138 by 110cm.; 54⅓ by 43¼in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 GBP. Lot sold 187,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Sotheby’s Made in Britain sale in London today soared past pre-sale expectations to realise a total of £ 2,605,752 (est. £1.3-2 million), with 90% of the lots finding a buyer and 74% these exceeding their high-estimates. 

The auction was led by a record for pioneer of ‘light art’ Chris Levine as his strikingly modern portrait of Queen Elizabeth II tripled its pre-sale estimate to sell for £187,500 (£50,000-80,000). During the photoshoot, Queen Elizabeth II was required to sit still for 8 seconds at a time, and between each exposure she closed her eyes to rest. Levine was struck by the beauty of her meditative state and snapped the shutter, resulting in this powerful image. A further five artist records at auction were achieved, including for photographer Rankin*, designer Joseph Walsh, Charlotte Colbert, Elisabeth Vellacott, Austin Wright and a collaboration by Richard Woods and Sebastian Wrong. 

Quintessentially Modern British artworks highlighted the sale, with intimate works by L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink and Barbara Hepworth all achieving strong results. A number of prints by David Hockney sold for a combined £156,500 (est. £49,800-70,200) – offering first-time collectors the opportunity to acquire works by one of Britain’s best-loved artists. Two original design used for Oxfam’s 2016 Christmas card collection were sold with proceeds donated to the charity; an early sketch for a piece to feature in Grayson Perry’s next Serpentine show that sold for £6,875 (est. £1,000-2,000) and Adam Dant’s Why Don’t You Guy Upstairs at £4,500 (est. £600-800). 

Every single one of the ceramics offered today were sold, achieving a grand total of £139,376 (est. £33,600-50,400) - reaffirming the insatiable demand in the market for British studio ceramics. The selection included ten works by the eminent potter Dame Lucie Rie, which all exceeded their pre-sale high estimates, including an early earthenware bowl with a lilac glaze that brought £25,000 against an estimate of £800-1,200. 

Lot 114. Dame Lucie Rie (1902-1995), An early earthenware bowl, signed with Artist's initials, earthenware with a lilac glaze, diameter: 18.5cm.; 7¼in. Executed circa 1930. Estimate 800-1,200 GBP. Lot sold 25,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

 Robin Cawdron-Stewart, Head of Sale, said: “When the sale first started in 2014, it was something that no other auction house here in Britain had really done before – looking at the broader picture of British arts and crafts over the past century and celebrating this diversity and creativity. The results seen today reflect how these British artists are now being celebrated on an international scale, with collectors responding to works at every price level.” 

Lot 3106. A fine and exquisite doucai'chicken' cup, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735), 8.2 cm, 3 1/4  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 12,100,000 HKD (1,464,243 EUR) (1,557,149 USD). Photo: Sotheby's. 

modelled after the Chenghua prototype, finely potted with rounded sides rising from a countersunk base to a gently flared rim, the exterior delicately outlined in underglaze blue and painted in bright translucent enamels of yellow, green, olive green and iron-red of shaded tones, one side with a red rooster turning back to see his hen hunching over to tend to their brood of four yellow chicks, the reverse with a further red rooster accompanied by his golden hen and five chicks, one riding on the hen's back, the rooster exquisitely portrayed with a red crown and long black tail feathers, the two scenes divided on one side by jagged underglaze-blue rocks with bamboo shoots issuing from behind, the other side with further rockwork and accentuated with red rose blooms and lush leaves, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double square

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16th May 1977, lot 140.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3rd May 1994, lot 144.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27th April 1999, lot 430.
Christie's Hong Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1587. 

Note: This exquisitely painted piece is an extremely rare version of chicken cups produced during the Yongzheng reign that were directly inspired by the treasured Chenghua originals. In form, composition and style of reign mark on the base, it closely follows the Chenghua prototype but with the slightest variation on the design, such as the more elaborate tails of the cocks instead of three long feathers. Furthermore, the proportions of the flowers and rocks have also been rendered in a more refined manner in accordance with the taste of the Yongzheng Emperor, with bamboo replacing the day lilies. No other cup with these variations appears to have been published although a similarly composed cup, but with one cock facing right and bamboo and lily growing from one set of rockwork, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st October 2000, lot 911.

Compare a related cup, but even closer to the Chenghua original, with similarly rendered rockwork, flowers and feathers of the cocks, from the Edward T. Chow Collection, illustrated in Cecile and Michel Beurdeley, La Ceramique Chinoise, Fribourg, 1974, col. pls 71 and 72 right, together with a Chenghua (left) and Kangxi (middle) version, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 139; and another sold twice in these rooms, 17th November 1975, lot 39, and 3rd May 1994, lot 143.

The design of a cock and a hen with chicks in a garden setting was a design innovation of the Chenghua reign, although the subject was a well-known topic of Song dynasty painting. By the Yongzheng period, developments in enamel technology saw the invention of glossy black enamel that was added to the tails of the cocks to capture the richness of the birds as well as provide an attractive calligraphic contrast with the doucai palette. The black on Chenghua cups was actually a dark colour derived by adding khaki-green enamel to underglaze blue, while the black enamel developed in the Kangxi period was matt and relatively unstable so required a layer of clear pale green or purple to be applied over the top.

Chicken cups of the Yongzheng period are more commonly found produced in the Chenghua shape but painted with a freer interpretation of the design, with elements such as one cock bending down with its tail in the air, the eight chicks spaced more evenly around the surface and significantly altered proportions of rockworks and plants; see one from the collection of Mrs Walter C. Sedgwick, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibitions Enamelled Polychrome of the Manchu Dynasty, London, 1951, cat. no. 100, and Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1964, cat. no. 194, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, pt. II, London, 2010, pl. 1745, sold in these rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 230; one illustrated in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 52; and a pair included in the Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary exhibition Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 165, sold in these rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 182, and again, 8th April 2014, lot 3109. Further cups of this type include one sold in these rooms 28th April 1998, lot 815; one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 608, and again in these rooms, 2nd May 2005, lot 608; another sold in these rooms, 15th May 1990, lot 284, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th May 2009, lot 1822; and a fourth cup sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3144.

For examples of the Chenghua original, see eight in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, of which six were included in Chenghua ciqi tezhan/Special Exhibition of Ch’eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, National Palace Museum, Taipei, cat. nos 132-7; one from the Sir Percival David Collection, and now in the British Museum, London, included in the exhibition Flawless Porcelains. Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1995, cat. no. 22; another from the Mrs Leopold Dreyfus and Meiyintang collections, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 1; and two from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 139.

Sotheby's. In His Majesty's Palm: Exquisite Porcelain Playthings, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017, 10:20 AM

Lot 3107. An extremely rare and superbly enamelled blue 'yangcai' sgraffiato 'floral' bowl, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 9.8 cm, 3 7/8  in. Estimate 7,000,000 — 9,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 8,500,000 HKD (1,028,600 EUR) (1,093,865  USD). Photo: Sotheby's. 

finely potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short splayed foot to an everted rim, the exterior meticulously decorated with three ruyi-shaped cartouches, each with a foliate border enclosing a basket picked out in sepia wash bearing luxuriant stylised floral blooms, the cartouches interrupted by undulating floral scrolls bearing leaves and tendrils, all against a pastel blue ground embellished in blue enamel with curling fronds in the sgraffiato technique, all between a gilt mouthrim and footring, the base enamelled turquoise save for a central white cartouche inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark

Provenance: Collection of Caid Osman, France, and thence by descent.
Cabinet Portier & Associés, Paris, 29th November 2013, lot 106.

Note: Exquisitely enamelled and elegantly composed, this bowl belongs to a select group of yangcai porcelain produced for the Qianlong Emperor in the early years of his reign. Yangcai ware was greatly favoured by the Qianlong Emperor and was one of the most prized types of porcelain in the Qing court. These treasures were primarily kept in the Emperor’s largest private quarters, the Qianqinggong [‘Palace of Heavenly Purity’], located in the Inner Court of the Forbidden City, and in the European-style palaces of the Yuanmingyuan, another of his personal favoured settings. This bowl is particularly notable and rare for the effective use of a sepia wash to subtly outline the flower basket designs and leafy panels to give the impression of a warm golden glow and three-dimensionality.

No closely related counterpart to this cup appears to have been published; however it bears striking resemblance to related lavishly decorated yangcai wares recorded to have been produced between the sixth and tenth year of Qianlong and held in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and shown in the Museum’s exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, 2008. This exhibition effectively captured the spectacular new range of colours that were developed, thus endowing the wares with a Westernised flavour while remaining steeped in Chinese tradition. The present bowl may comprise one of the sixty-nine pieces of yangcai porcelain recorded as being presented to the Qianlong Emperor in the in the eighth month of the seventh year of his reign (corresponding to 1741). Elements of its design are seen on a number of pieces from this exhibition; for example see a pair of vases with similar flower baskets within leafy ruyi-shape cartouches, cat. no. 47 (fig. 1); and a bowl and vase with related leafy cartouches, cat. nos 3 and 38. Compare also a pair of powder-blue ground vases with incised sgraffiato fronds surrounding ruyi-shape panels depicting flowers, cat. no. 30. Most of the yangcai pieces with comparable decoration from the Qing court collection listed above can be dated to the seventh year.

Pair of gall-bladder vases in yangcai enamels with incised blue ground pattern of flower brocade and band decor, marks and period of Qianlong © Collection of National Palace Museum, Taipei

The palette and development of yangcai porcelain can be attributed to the genius of Tang Ying (1682-1756), Superintendent of the imperials kilns in Jingdezhen during the Yongzheng and early Qianlong periods. Liao Pao Show, in ‘On Yang-ts’ai Porcelains of the Ch’ien-lung Reign’, Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p. 36, notes that the production of yangcai porcelain was perfected under Tang after the sixth year of the Qianlong Emperor, following the Emperor’s complaint that the porcelain made in the first six years of his reign were of significantly lower quality than those from the previous Yongzheng period.

These yangcai decorated pieces are characterised by their successful synthesis of traditional Chinese elements with newly acquired Western techniques. Thus they required the highest level of skill and execution and it is not surprising that they are exceedingly rare. As the term yangcai (‘Western colours’) suggests, the palette is inspired by European paintings, which relied heavily on the use of white pigment. The craftsman of the present piece has employed predominantly foreign hues of pastel blues, green and pinks and juxtaposed them with rich iron-red, a pigment developed from the early Ming dynasty. Western methods of creating the illusion of light and shadow through subtle tonal gradations fill the leafy scrolls that form the auspicious ruyi-shape cartouches, as well as the petals and lobed flower basket. A basket of flowers is the emblem of Lan Caihe, one of the Eight Daoist Immortals, and thus this motif carries the wish for wealth, good fortune and longevity.

Another influence on a number of yangcai porcelain was Beijing enamelled wares, first produced by Jesuit missionary artists working in the Qing court from the Kangxi reign. While known from metal-bodied wares, the use of pastel blue for the ground as seen on this bowl is unusual for porcelain. Furthermore, the employment of gold for the rim further suggests the influence of Beijing enamel on its aesthetics; for example see a painted enamel bowl, decorated with a peony scroll on a light blue ground, with Kangxi reign mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Enamels, vol. 5, Painted Enamels in the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2011, pl. 26.

The blue ground of this bowl has been further embellished with blue enamel curling fronds in the sgraffiato technique. Commonly known as jinshangtianhua (‘adding decorative pattern onto brocades’), the development of this laborious technique is also attributed to Tang Ying. The technique consisted of reserving the design on a monochrome enamel ground, which itself is structured by needle-point etching or enamelling of endless scrolling fronds. Such rich decoration, coupled with the generous spacing of the floral cartouches, is reminiscent of French rococo textiles, specimens of which would have entered the court through Jesuit missionaries and merchants in Guangdong.

Sotheby's. In His Majesty's Palm: Exquisite Porcelain Playthings, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017, 10:20 AM 

Lot 3108. A pair of small and rare famille-rose 'tribute bearers' incense holders, Seal marks and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 11.5 cm, 4 1/2  in. Estimate 700,000 — 900,000 HKD. Lot sold 875,000 HKD (105,885 EUR) (112,604 USD). Photo: Sotheby's. 

each delicately modelled with a tapering cylindrical body resting on a slightly larger splayed foot, surmounted by a gently concave band decorated with three gilt scroll flanges below the mouthrim, the body divided into two main registers by a gilt flange, the upper register decorated with a continuous scene depicting various birds against a tranquil riverscape arboured with tall trees and set with jagged rockwork, the lower register with a similar riverscape and further detailed with small pavilions and various tribute bearers, some portrayed with foreign features and adorned in foreign attire, below the grooved band encircling the rim and finely picked out in pink enamel with floral and scrolling motifs against a pastel pink ground, all above a further pink-ground band encircling the foot with feathery scrolls and 'horse-hoof' motifs, the turquoise-enamelled base centred with an iron-red four-character seal mark within a white cartouche, wood stands

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 27th April 1997, lot 761.

Note: Remarkable for their fine and detailed painting on a small scale, the present pair is probably unique, with no other comparable examples known to exist.

These holders have been cleverly created to simulate painted enamel wares as indicated by the gilding on the bands, rims and handles. The scene of foreigners is also more commonly found on painted enamels, which were in turn inspired by European watercolour paintings. However while these copper-bodied wares often portrayed the figural design in cartouches, the present scenes extend around the whole holders as though painted on a miniature handscroll. Additionally, the foreign scene provides an attractive contrast with the traditional bird and phoenix scene depicted above.

Sotheby's. In His Majesty's Palm: Exquisite Porcelain Playthings, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017, 10:20 AM

Lot 3109. A fine gilt-decorated and enamelled moulded 'double-gourd' snuff bottle, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 5.2 cm, 2 in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,460,000 HKD (418,701 EUR) (445,267 USD). Photo: Sotheby's. 

delicately moulded in the form of a double-gourd with a slightly flattened globular body surmounted by a small bulbous upper body with a gently flared mouthrim, the shoulder of the upper bulb with a small pair of loop handles, the body densely decorated with gourds borne on leafy vines, some finely enamelled and some rendered in relief, all against a pale beige ground decorated in gilt with feathery scrolls, the gently countersunk base inscribed in black enamel with a four-character seal mark within a square, stopper

Provenance: Collection of Mariel King (1907-69), granddaughter of J.R. Watkins, Minnesota.
Estate of Frank G. Mertes (1932-2014), Minnesota.

Note: This exceptional snuff bottle, one of a set created in limited numbers for the Qianlong Emperor, is a tactile delight, representing the apex of quality of all enamelled porcelain snuff bottles. Created early in his reign at Jingdezhen under the close supervision of Tang Ying, the quality of its complex moulded double-gourd form and the intricate delicacy of the enamelled design sets it apart from other porcelain examples. The painting is superb, with fluid rendition of the gourds, leaves and undulating scrolling vine, and an intricately picked out dense ground of scrolls in brilliant gold. Exquisite naturalism is achieved through the spontaneity of the undulating scrolling gourd vines and the vividness of the detailing, including the veins of the leaves, painstakingly rendered through carefully modulated black lines on the green enamel.

One of the set, from the Qing court collection, is still preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 201, no. 311. Those dispersed outside of the Imperial collection include one in the British Museum, on loan from the Sir Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, Chinese Ceramics. Highlights from the Sir Percival David Collection, London, 2009, p. 17, fig. 9; another sold at Christie’s New York, 2nd December 1993, lot 466, now in the collection of Denis Low, illustrated by Denis S.K. Low, More Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 174, no. 160; and a pair originally in the J and J Collection, one sold most recently at Bonhams Hong Kong, 23rd November 2010, lot 121, from the Mary and George Bloch Collection, which holds the current record price for any porcelain snuff bottle; and another most recently at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7th October 2014, lot 32, from a private American collection.

The same four-character seal mark, inscribed in black enamel within a square, can be seen on a yellow-ground famille-rose porcelain snuff bottle, also from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures, op.cit., p. 194, no. 304, and on a blue-ground famille-rose porcelain snuff bottle, enamelled with a landscape scene and Imperial poem, sold in these rooms, 24th November 2014, lot 88, from the Mary and George Bloch Collection.

Peter Y.K. Lam expounds in ‘Imperial Famille Rose Decorated Snuff Bottles of the Qianlong Period in Chinese Collections’, Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Autumn 2003, p. 6, that in the 12th month of the year corresponding to 1758, the Qianlong Emperor ordered that three snuff bottles be sent to Jingdezhen as models to produce ‘nine gourd-shaped snuff bottles, nine kidney-shaped snuff bottles and six vase-shaped snuff bottles’. It is possible that the set to which the current example belongs is one of these ‘nine gourd-shaped’ bottles, demonstrating the Qianlong Emperor’s exacting demands and stringent overview of the manufacture process of snuff bottles created under his personal attention.

Another entry in the Neiwufu records referring to a porcelain double-gourd snuff bottle with gilt stopper may also relate to one of this set. It states that on the 30th day of the 9th month of the 46th year, a cinnabar lacquer tiered case was manufactured to store snuff bottles. The description of the bottles placed inside on the 3rd day of the 10th month of the same year includes detailed descriptions of 'a falangcai gourd-shaped snuff bottle with a coral stopper, a porcelain gourd-shaped snuff bottle with a gilt stopper, an agate "melon" snuff bottle with stopper, and a white jade "twin mythical beast" snuff bottle with stopper'. 

Sotheby's. In His Majesty's Palm: Exquisite Porcelain Playthings, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017, 10:20 AM

Lot 3626. An imperially inscribed famille-rose sgraffiato 'floral' vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 40 cm, 15 3/4  in. Estimate 18,000,000 — 25,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 21,700,000 HKD (2,625,956 EUR) (2,792,573 USD). Photo: Sotheby's

with a finely potted cylindrical body resting on a slightly splayed foot, surmounted by a tapering shoulder and trumpet neck, the body skilfully decorated with eight raised alternating gilt-bordered lobed cartouches, four enclosing inscriptions of poems written in clerical, regular, running and seal scripts, eulogising peony, mallow, lotus and prunus respectively, each followed by two seal marks reading Qianlong and bingxu (in accordance with 1766) respectively, the other four delicately enamelled in shaded pastel tones of the famille-rose palette with clusters of flowering and budding floral blooms, all against a white ground detailed with iron-red feathery scrolls and highlighted with famille-rose floral scrolls, the neck further accentuated with bats suspending chimes, the foot skirted with a key-fret band, the interior and base enamelled turquoise, the base further centred with an iron-red six-character seal mark within a white cartouche

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., Tokyo.
Collection of Dr Michael Klatchko (1883-1968).

Exhibited: Sekai kobijutsu tenrankai [Antiques of the World exhibition], Yamanaka & Co. and Tokyo Art Club, Osaka and Tokyo, 1932, cat. no. 648.

Note: This vase is a masterful display of the dexterity of craftsmen working in the imperial kilns during the Qianlong reign. In its combination of calligraphic styles and decorative elements, it successfully translates scroll paintings mounted on textile borders onto a three-dimensional porcelain vase. Such vessels are marvels of the Qianlong period, of which only a small group was produced, and represent the Qianlong Emperor’s personal taste, which gravitated towards porcelain designs that were artistically complex, and revealed his appreciation for scholarship as expressed in his writings and poems. 

The poems are recorded in Yuzhi leshan tang quanji dingben [Definitive edition of the complete works from the delight in Goodness Hall, by His Majesty), Siku quanshu ed., vol. 24, pp. 15-16. The writings in this collection date from before he became emperor. These four poems, together with an additional one, were originally composed for a set of five paintings by Jiang Tingxi (1669-1732) illustrating peach blossoms and willow, mallow, prunus, lotus, and pine and peony, bearing the imperial inscriptions. However, this vase is unusual as it illustrates the musk mallow and peony along with the chrysanthemum and flowering pomegranate.

The opulence of the present vase has been achieved through the skilful juxtaposition of the scholarly decoration of the flowers and calligraphy on a crisp white ground against the luxurious sgraffiato and flower scroll borders. Such design also reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s taste for both the lavish and traditional. The rich web of iron-red feathery scrolls gives the impression of a pink ground when viewed from a distance and it is only upon closer inspection that the full effect can be appreciated. Furthermore, the gilt-bordered panels, mouth and base of neck heighten the sense of extravagance.

No other closely related vase appears to have been published. There are, however, related eight-panelled vases that combine imperial poems and corresponding floral paintings. See for example a slightly smaller cylindrical vase with a tall flared neck flanked by handles in the form of bats suspending tassels, the similarly lobed panels placed between doucai flower scrolls, in the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 97; and a much larger turquoise-ground vase, from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, included in the exhibition Imperial Perfection. The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors. Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 2004, cat. no. 53.

Versions of this vase were also made with four panels, such as a smaller gold-ground vase, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, op. cit. pl. 137; a blue-ground octagonal vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 80; and a square vase with blue ground, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 3025. A cylindrical pink-ground vase moulded with six lobed panels to the exterior, from the estate of Mr L.J. Pead, was also sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 3050.

Vases bearing panels of these inscriptions and flowers continued to be produced in the early years of the succeeding reign of Jiaqing, such as a yellow-ground ovoid vase with two panels each of flowers and inscriptions, in the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, op. cit., pl. 169, where the author notes that this particular group of ceramics were commissioned for the Emperor Emeritus, the retired Qianlong Emperor. Another Jiaqing vase, of octagonal form with each side decorated with an inscription in standard script alternating with flowers, was sold at Christie’s London, 8th November 2016, lot 83.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3624. A finely painted and extremely rare large famille-rose 'landscape' vase, hu, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 45 cm, 17 5/8  in. Estimate 15,000,000 — 20,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 18,100,000 HKD (2,190,314 EUR) (2,329,289 USD). Photo: Sotheby's

sturdily potted of archaistic hu form, the robust pear-shaped body sweeping up to a tapering neck flanked by a pair of gilt-decorated iron-red handles modelled in the form of dragons, the body vibrantly enamelled in shaded tones of the famille-rose palette with a river running through an idyllic landscape, picked out with various figures engaging in different activities, including some depicted conversing, others crossing a bridge as well as a reclusive figure fishing on a boat, the tranquil setting further decorated with pavilions and arboured with tall trees with dense foliage, the background decorated with a mountainous terrain, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue

Provenance: Christie's New York, 24th March 2004, lot 251.

Note: Idealised landscapes encircling the body of a vase, like a painting on a handscroll that is revealed with every turn, are relatively rare on Qianlong porcelain. Such continuous paintings commanded not only accomplished brushwork but also particular skill at composition, especially for vases of this pear-shaped hu form. A closely related example with slight variations in mountainscape views, similarly flanked by archaistic kui dragon handles, and possibly the companion to this vase, from the Umezawa Gallery, Tokyo, is published in Mayuyama. Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 1071, and included in the exhibition Shincho toji [Qing ceramics in the Umezawa Kinenkan, Tokyo], MOA Art Museum, Atami, 1984, cat. no. 17.

Vases decorated in this style, with mountainous landscapes featuring pavilions in richly-coloured vegetation among towering rockwork and expanses of water, are known to have been applied onto porcelain by Tang Ying (1682-1756), superintendent of the Jingdezhen imperial porcelain factory and a gifted painted himself. Scenes signed with his seal, either painted directly by him onto the vessel or transferred from his ink paintings by professional porcelain decorators have survived from the early Qianlong period. The painting is in the ‘Four Wangs’ orthodox school style which was very popular in the early 18th century. Moreover, Tang Ying had learned painting under Wang Yuanqi (1642-1715), one of the Four Wangs, in his early years.

For an example of a landscape vase of this type from the early Qianlong period, see one of lantern-shape with an inscription by Tang Ying, from the collection of Charles Russell, sold in our London rooms, 25th June 1946, lot 79, again in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 52, from the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, and a third time at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th April 2001, lot 516, and published in Peter Y.K. Lam, ‘Tang Ying (1682-1756). The Imperial Factory Superintendent at Jingdezhen’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 63, 1998-99, p. 73, fig. 8, where it is compared to a landscape painting by Tang Ying, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, fig. 9. The same vase is also published in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 101. A smaller lantern-shaped vase similarly painted with a landscape and inscribed with a poem, dated to the dingmao year of Qianlong (in accordance with 1747), but lacking the seals of Tang Ying, from the collections of Robert C. Bruce and H.M. Knight, was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, The Arts Council Gallery, London, 1964, cat. no. 215; and an unmarked larger example, in the British Museum, London, is published in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain. The Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, pl. XCIII, fig. 1.

Idyllic mountainscapes were highly favoured by members of the court and scholar elite as they provided an escape from the duties and responsibilities of official life. Along with porcelain vases, such scenes were produced in a number of porcelain shapes, such as brushpots and dishes, as well as a variety of valuable media, including jade, wood and rhinoceros horn. It remained a popular subject throughout the Qianlong Emperor’s reign and beyond, the porcelain examples being later combined with lavish borders decorated in sgraffiato to further resemble the textile borders of scroll paintings, such as a pair of vases from J.T. Tai, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2010, lot 2130.

The particular form of this vase, with iron-red decorated handles, is more commonly known decorated with the ‘hundred deer’ motif; see one in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999, vol. 15, pl. 17 and on the dust jacket; one, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 85; and a third offered in this sale, lot 3625. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017

Lot 3630. An extremely rare set of ten famille-rose bowls with views of Jiangxi, Marks and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820), 14.5 to 14.7 cm, 5 3/4  in.  Estimate 8,000,000 — 12,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 11,500,000 HKD (1,391,636 EUR) (1,479,935 USD). Photo: Sotheby's

each rounded bowl with widely everted, conical sides faintly flared at the rim, resting on a slightly tapering foot, the exterior depicting different landscape scenes painted in famille-rose enamels, with inscriptions in black enamel to identify the sites, above a narrow lotus scroll border in blue enamel on a band of white enamel all within underglaze-blue double lines circling the rim and foot, the interior decorated in iron red with a branch of prunus and one of finger citron under a pine tree in the centre, within a ruyi border reserved in white on red at the rim

Provenance: Acquired in China prior to 1936, by repute.
Christie's Hong Kong, 26th September 1989, lot 748.
Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2001, lot 517.
The Meiyintang Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7th April 2011, lot 17. 

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, nos 1762-71.

Note: Xunyang jiu pai [Nine Tributaries of the Xunyang], a river scenery in Jiujiang, which is bordered on one side with houses on stilts in front of a city wall with a double-roofed gate and willows and pink-flowering trees in the foreground, on the other shore boats are moored and people are visiting a pavilion, with reed-covered fishing boats nearby and sailing boats in mid-river, one tucking a rowing boat along.

Teng[wang]ge gao feng [Lofty Scenery at the Pavillion of Prince Teng] shows a famous pavilion at the Gan river in Xinjian county that has its origins in the early Tang dynasty and was immortalized in a poem by Wang Bo (AD 649-76), depicted as a building with curved roofs on a terrace overlooking a river with many sailing and rowing boats, guarded on the other side by crenellated walls.

Xuting yan liu [Misty Willows at the Xu Pavilion], a site in Jiujiang depicting two impressive buildings with double roofs with curved-up eaves connected by a multi-arched bridge with an island with small houses among dense willow trees, the white-washed gate to the bridge inscribed ...longqiao [... Dragon Bridge], two fishermen in their boats with their nets lowered to one side and a smaller one-hump bridge to the other side next to crenellated walls partly hidden by clouds.

Baihua chun xiao [Spring Dawn at Hundred Flowers], shows Baihua Island in East Lake in Nanchang, famous for a garden laid out there by a Song dynasty (AD 960-1279) scholar, and depicts people crossing a large green, where a pailou (ceremonial arch) has been erected, one man with a shoulder pole, another with a staff, one on a mule followed by an attendant with an umbrella, a walled compound with willows beyond identified as Donghu Shuyuan [East Lake College], further buildings built into the water, connected by a dyke with further willows that leads to a small walled compound with a commemorative stele, with a ferryboat and many fishing boats surrounding the island, some with lowered nets.

Shangqing sheng jing [Scenic Spot of Shangqing] renders a Daoist temple devoted to Shangqing, one of the 'Three Pure Ones' in Guixi county, its multi-coloured roofs nestled among dramatic steep blue-green cliffs and surrounded by clouds, with the path leading over a bridge past a figure of a seated stone lion on a pedestal, through a ceremonial arch up broad steps to a front gate inscribed Shangqinggong ['Shangqing Palace'], with people in boats travelling along a river nearby and a waterfall rushing down from a rock face opposite.

Magu xian tan [Altar of the Immortal Magu], depicts the altar of the Daoist Immortal Magu on Mount Magu in Nancheng, with a temple hall built to overhang steep rocky cliffs, partly hidden among clouds, next to a waterfall, another further down, visible through a large circular 'gateway' formed by a natural rock formation, and a third building high up on a platform with a vista onto steep cloud-enveloped hills, with pines in the valley and a red sun in the sky.

Lushan pubu [Lushan Waterfall] depicts a dramatic waterfall near Poyang Lake among steep blue-green mountains, with a thatched hut below, a pagoda and temple building to one side and further temple halls among pine trees high up in the blue-green mountains, with people climbing up the steep stone steps.

Xishan die cui [Layers of Kingfisher Blue in the Western Mountains] shows the mountainous landscape of Xishan, southwest of Nanchang, with the waterfall, crossed by a covered walkway, continuing as a winding stream with a bridge in the foreground and group of buildings behind a wall with a triple gateway further away, inscribed with a temple name.

Yuling ji xue [Snow Piling up on Yu Mountain Range] is the title of a snowy landscape in Dayu, also known as Meiling [Prunus Blossom Mountain Range], showing people crossing snow-covered mountain ranges on mules or on foot, the roofs of a tall gateway and other buildings laden with snow, and overall red-flowering prunus and evergreen trees lending colour.

Nanpu fei yun [Nanpu Flying Clouds], a scenic spot southwest of Nanchang, also described by the Tang poet Wang Bo, shows a lakeside view with a tall pagoda and other buildings in the foreground, islets with pavilions among willow trees at the other shore and fishing boats dotted about on the water.

This set depicts famous scenic spots of the region around Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, where the bowls were made. The different scenes are outstanding in their dramatic composition, quality of the painting and the range of enamel colours. Geng Baochang mentions as characteristic of the Jiaqing reign finely potted and painted porcelains decorated with ten famous views of various areas, such as Ten Views of West Lake, in Hangzhou, Ten Views of Changjiang, the Yangzi River, Ten Views of Lushan, a mountain in Jiangxi, and Ten Views of Dongting, a lake in Hunan; see Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 293.

This set appears, however, to be unique and similar complete sets of ten bowls do not appear to have been otherwise published; a single Jiaqing bowl inscribed Magu xian tan, from the collection of Yokogawa Tamisuke is included in Tōkyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan zuhan mokuroku: Chūgoku tōji hen/Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1988-90, vol. 2, no. 672; another inscribed Shangqing sheng jing in the Weishaupt collection is illustrated in Gunhild Avitabile, Vom Schatz der Drachen/From the Dragon's Treasure: Chinesisches Porzellan des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Weishaupt/Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, London, 1987, cat. no. 20.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017