A rare famille rose'hundred boys' vase and cover, Iron-red Qianlong seal mark and of the period. Sold for £57,500 (€79,656). Photo Bonhams.
Exquisitely enamelled in delicate shades on the ovoid body with a lively continuous scene of boys celebrating a festival variously dressed as Buddhist lions playing with a brocade ball, playing drums and trumpets, and holding aloft models of a five-clawed dragon, phoenix and various fish, crabs, shrimp and goats, and lanterns illuminating boys enjoying a mock duel, all amongst a rolling landscape of pines and mountains by a river, the foot and neck with lotus blossoms on foliate scrolls, the cover with similar lotus amidst scrolls and blue, yellow, turquoise and pink key-fret. 35.5cm (14in) high (2).
Provenance: an English private collection
Notes: The animated composition filling the entire body of the vase emphasises the joyous, festive atmosphere as the continuous scene of boys absorbed in their energetic play processes in exquisitely enamelled detail. The theme of a 'hundred boys' was very popular in the Qing dynasty, representing the desire for many sons to continue the family line and ensure prosperity and stability.
Related famille rose porcelain vases with Qianlong seal marks and of the period, and scenes of boys at play in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2009, no.121, and nos.128 and 132 from the Qing Court Collection.
Compare also a closely related pair of vases, Qianlong seal marks and of the period, but with a slightly more bulbous shape, sold at Christie's London, 15 May 2012, lot 328.
Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 14 May 2015 10:00 BST - LONDON, NEW BOND STREET