Un bol et un vase en porcelaine sur fond jaune. Chine, dynastie Qing, marque et époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

Bol en porcelaine à décor de dragons vert sur fond jaune. Chine, dynastie Qing, marque et époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

circulaire le rebord légèrement évasé, le contour incisé et peint en vert sur fond jaune à décor de deux dragons poursuivant une perle d'immortalité, l'intérieur avec symbole de longévité shou à l'intérieur d'un cercle, la base émaillée blanche avec la marque zuanshu de l'empereur Qianlong en bleu sous couverte. 5,5 x 10,3 cm, 2 3/16 x 4 1/16 in. diam. Est. 18,000—22,000 EUR. Lot Sold 22,350 EUR

NOTE: A Qianlong bowl of this form and design, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the museum's Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yong-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 77; a pair was included in the exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 154; and a further pair of bowls, in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology is published in Ireneus Laszlo Legeza, Malcolm Macdonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, pl. 333 and pl. 334.

Compare also a pair of bowls of this form and decoration from the Edward T. Chow collection sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19^th May 1981, lot 580; and another bowl sold in our London rooms, 2^nd December 1997, lot 291.

For the inspiration of this piece see a bowl with a Kangxi reign mark and of the period, exhibited in Gems of Chinese Art, Selections of Ceramics and Bronzes from the Tsui Art Foundation, The Empress Palace Museum, Singapore, 1992, cat. no. 102, sold at Christie's New York, 10^th September 1997, lot 159.

Vase en porcelaine vert et aubergine sur fond jaune. Chine, dynastie Qing, marque et époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

de forme balustre avec un haut col évasé, le pourtour délicatement incisé de rinceaux de lotus aubergine et vert alternés sur fond jaune, une frise de ruyi autour du col et de l'épaule et vagues autour du pied, la base jaune incisée de la marque zhuanshu à six caractères de l'empereur Qianlong. 33 cm, 13 in. Est. 80,000—120,000 EUR. Lot Sold 84,750 EUR

NOTE: The present vase is a rare example of Qianlong period wares decorated in this powerfully contrasting palette of yellow, green and aubergine. The three colours belong to the famille verte palette of enamels and together with white formed the basic colours of Kangxi biscuit wares. Suzanne G. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 236, notes that these glazes were also 'washed over engraved design of flowers or dragons on grounds of contrasting colours. Again, they can be daubed in variegated patterns, including the motley of colours given fanciful names such as 'tiger-skin', 'leopard-skin' and 'egg-and-spinach'. After the Kangxi period, the famille verte palette of enamels lost much of its popularity. However, it did continue in minor use during subsequent reigns'. The present vase therefore belongs to this 'special' group of wares that reveals the Qianlong emperor's fondness for copying and reproducing past designs and glazes.

The decoration found on the present vase is inspired by an earlier, Yongzheng period, olive-shaped vase with closely related flower motif on the main body, in green enamels on a yellow-ground, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 236, pl. 65.

See a Qianlong green and aubergine decorated yellow-ground 'Birthday' dish illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. 4, Geneva, 1974, pl. A545; and another, possibly the pair to the Baur dish sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23^rd October 2005, lot 209.

Compare also a yellow-ground olive-shaped vase belonging to this 'special' group of Qianlong wares, decorated with green dragons, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published op.cit., Hong Kong, p. 442, pl. 124.

For the inspiration of the type see two Kangxi vases decorated in the same scheme illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, fig. 183, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and fig. 184, from the Umezawa Kinenkan, Tokyo.

Sotheby's. Asian Art. 11 Jun 09. Paris www.sothebys.com