Rare aiguière (huajiao) en porcelaine décorée en bleu sous couverte, Chine, Epoque Yongzheng

A very rare and important blue and white ewer, huajiao , underglaze blue Yongzheng six-character sealmark and of the period (1723-35). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2006

Inspired by Middle Eastern metalwork prototype with a wide cylindrical body rounded at the shoulder and base and moulded with chrysanthemum petals, the waisted neck with a knop in the mid-section, rising to a broad spout and applied with an arched handle terminating with a ruyi head, finely painted in the early 15th century style with simulated 'heaping and piling' effects around the body and the neck with bands of florets borne on delicate curled tendrils, the mouth rim with pendent tassels suspended from ruyi heads; 10½ in. (26.5 cm.) high. Price Realized £344,000 (($654,632)

Notes: This rare and elegant vessel brings together the best elements of Yongzheng imperial porcelain. Its perfectly balanced form is beautifully potted, and the finely-painted decoration in rich cobalt blue provides an excellent complement to the form. Although no exact parallels have been found, its form probably was inspired by Middle Eastern metalwork. A Persian bronze ewer from the 12th century, illustrated by Eva Baer in Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York, 1983, p. 96 (fig. 1), shares many features with the current porcelain example, although its neck is shorter, making its spout much more prominent, and it does not have a knop on its neck. It is possible that the current ewer is an amalgamation of various styles and designs, and does not copy an existing prototype. While a number of Chinese porcelain forms take their inspiration from metal - the early 15th century forms, which copy Islamic metalwork shapes are a case in point - few do so with as much grace as this ewer. The stepped triple rings at the base of the neck and the edge of the torque, for example, greatly enhance these transitions and provide a pleasing counterpoint to the rounded petal bands.

In Chinese these ewers are called hua jiao, or flower watering jugs, but the shape is equally well-suited to pouring wine, and may have been used for that purpose. The form was obviously a particular favourite of the Yongzheng emperor's, since examples from his reign may be found with or without handles, and with monochrome glazes as well as decorated in underglaze blue. Although the majority are about 25-26 cm. high, smaller and larger examples are also known. An example without handle (h: 25.1 cm.) with celadon green glaze and incised scrolling decoration is in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics, Thames and Hudson, London, 1996, p. 280, no. 542). Three ewers without handles with white glaze over incised decoration are published - one is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (h: 25 cm.), and is published in Gugong Bowuyuan cang - Qing dai yuyao ciqi, juan I, vol. II, Beijing, 2005, p. 208-9, no. 90. Another from the Grandidier collection (h: 25 cm.) is in the Musée Guimet (see Oriental Ceramics - The World's Great Collections - 7 - Musee Guimet, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 170); and the third, formerly in the collection of E.T. Chow, is now in the Meiyintang Collection (see R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection,, vol. II, London, 1994, pp. 160-1, no. 794).

A further monochrome glazed Yongzheng vessel of this form, without a handle and with a Changguan-type teadust glaze (h: 26 cm.) is preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 37 - Monochrome Porcelain, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 266-7, no. 244). This vessel, from the Qing Court collection, has no underglaze decoration, but the thinning of the glaze emphasizes the modelling of the three rings around the lower neck and shoulder torque. A somewhat larger vessel (h: 32.5 cm.), with a handle, and with no apparent incised decoration under a flambé glaze is also in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated Gugong Bowuyuan cang - Qing dai yuyao ciqi, juan I, vol. II, op. cit., pp. 314-5, no. 143 (Fig. 2). A similar flambé-glazed example (h: 31 cm.) is in the Chang Foundation, Taipei, and is illustrated by J. Spencer, Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1990, pl. 128.

Underglaze blue decorated vessels of this form are known, both with and without handles. An example without a handle (h: 25 cm.) is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2000, pp. 122, no. 108). The decoration on this vessel is quite different to that on any of the other blue and white vessels. It has archaistic leaves rising towards the mouth rim, a broad vegetal scroll around the raised ring on the neck, and a beaded band below. The shoulder torque is decorated with lotus panels, and the vertical band around the body is decorated with a dense lotus scroll. The most striking contrast with the other blue and white vessels, however, is the fact that each of the moulded petals is painted in solid deep blue. Another blue and white ewer without handle in the Palace Museum, Beijing is somewhat larger at 24.5 cm. high, and has decoration much more similar to that seen on the blue and white vessels with handles (see Gugong Bowuyuan cang - Qing dai yuyao ciqi, juan I, vol. II, op. cit., p. 110, no. 44.

The same collection houses the smallest of the blue and white vessels (h: 20.6 cm.), which is one of the ewers with a handle (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), op. cit., p. 123, no. 109). The largest of the blue and white vessels with handles (h: 31.2 cm.) is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and is published in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, book I, Cafa company, Hong Kong, 1968, p. 88 and plates 12 a-d. A further ewer, only a fraction smaller at 31 cm. high, with identical decoration to the Taipei example, is published in Imperial Perfection - The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors - A Selection from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 42-3, no. 8.

There appears to be only one other ewer that bears exactly the same decoration as the current example, and that is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang - Qing dai yuyao ciqi, juan I, vol. II, op. cit., pp. 108-9, no. 43) (Fig. 3). While the Taipei and Hong Kong ewers have classic scrolls around the raised ring on the neck, the current ewer and its Beijing counterpart have elaborate floral scrolls, which complement those on the shoulder torque. While the Taipei and Hong Kong ewers have lotus and lappets on the lower part of the neck, the current vessel and the Beijing ewer have diamond-shaped formal floral devices offset by triangular motifs. Lastly, where the Taipei and Hong Kong ewers have a device reminiscent of a double vajra between the formal scrolled elements on the vertical band on the body, the current and Beijing vessels have a complementary floral device.

The style of decoration on the main vertical band on the body of these blue and white ewers with handles is very distinctive, and quite unusual. It combines floral motifs with scrolling elements, from which protrude small knobbed extensions. The same device in very similar format, however, appears on a large Yongzheng blue and white hu vase (Fig. 4) in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang - Qing dai yuyao ciqi, juan I, vol. II, op. cit., pp. 387, no. 179). A similar decorative approach, but applied to motifs pendant from the junction of neck and shoulder, appears on a large vase in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, op. cit., p. 68 and pl. 2). The same combination of elements can also be seen in the decoration on the upper flange of a Yongzheng blue and white cup stand in the Nanjing Museum (illustrated in Treasures of Royalty - The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Nanjing Museum, 2003, p. 139). Each of these porcelains is characterised by particularly fine decoration in an especially rich blue, a feature they share with the current ewer.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART INCLUDING EXPORT ART, 7 November 2006, London, King Street - http://www.christies.com