A SUPERB AND EXTREMELY RARE COPPER-RED 'FRUIT' MEIPING SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG |

elegantly modelled after an early Ming dynasty prototype, superbly potted with rounded shoulders rising at a gently flaring angle from the base and sweeping to a short waisted neck with a slightly everted mouth, the exterior deftly painted with a wide frieze of five sprays arranged in an alternating double register, the upper register showing detached peach, pomegranate and finger citrus, the lower register with lychee and loquat, the leafy branches further issuing small blossoms and buds, the shoulders draped by a band of pendent lotus lappets enclosing elaborately picked out trefoils, below the waisted neck collared by interlocking ruyi heads with stylised leafy florets, the foot further bordered by a band of upright overlapping plantain leaves, all painted in soft washes of copper red of a rosy-pink tone with occasional speckles of apple green, accented by simulated 'heaping and piling' effect, the recessed base centred with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark

Collection of Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977).
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23rd May 1978, lot 107.

Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, on loan.
Chinese and Japanese Ceramics from the Collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1973, no. 52, pl. XXI.

Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain. The Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, pl. XXII, fig. 2.

The vase has a cleaned hairline above the shoulder, extending around, measuring approx. 8 cm. There are two filled in rim flakes (approx. 0.4 and 0.2 cm). There is also a 3 cm vertical hairline above the lappet band, extending through the double line. The base has a star crack to the glaze, measuring approx. 3.5 cm at the widest point.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Gracefully potted with rounded shoulders and a dainty mouth, this meiping vase epitomises a classic porcelain form produced in China for over a thousand years that was greatly favoured by emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The Qianlong reign marked the pinnacle of meiping production, and saw a prolific and diverse range of sizes, glaze palette and decorative pattern in this form. The present meiping, silhouetted with full curving shoulders, differs from contemporaneous pieces of this type which are usually potted with broader and relatively plateaued shoulders. This unusual treatment is reminiscent of earlier Ming-dynasty prototypes. Intricately painted in delicate copper-red tones with flowering and fruiting sprays bearing symbolic references to longevity and fertility, the present vase exemplifies the masterful skill of Qing potters and appears to be unique.

Vessels of this form first appeared in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and gained popularity in the Song period (960-1279). Although originally destined as wine containers in the Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming dynasties, vessels of this elegant shape later earned their title as meiping or ‘prunus vase’, and were transformed into decorative flower vases. In the early-Ming dynasty, under court supervision, the imperial kilns produced blue-and-white meiping of perfect proportions, potted with small mouths and rounded shoulders and sparsely painted with fruit sprays.

The Qianlong Emperor commissioned close copies of early-Ming porcelains, including those from the Yongle period, but often mistakenly categorised them as ‘Xuande wares’. For example, in the third year of the Qianlong period (1738), the Emperor instructed a eunuch to send two early-Ming meiping to Jingdezhen to be copied by Tang Ying, the greatest porcelain superintendent in Chinese history. These were described as ‘a Xuande blue-and-white meiping’ and ‘a Xuande blue-and-white meiping with Three Fruit design’, see Feng Xianming, Annotated Collection of Historical Documents on Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 2000, pp. 230-232.

Despite an ardent passion to recreate early-Ming porcelain vases, the Qianlong Emperor rarely used Yongle meiping with fruit and flower designs as his archetypal model, consequently Qianlong meiping of similar form painted in copper red would have been an even rarer occurrence. An unmarked meiping of a slender shape with smooth shoulders, from a Japanese collection, is included in Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 570 (fig. 1). A further unmarked example painted with four copper-red fruiting sprays divided by underglaze-blue line borders, was sold in these rooms, 21st May 1985, lot 143. See also a Qianlong-marked copper-red meiping, with broader shoulders and more exaggerated proportions, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 173. The Palace Museum example is painted with peach, pomegranate and finger citron forming the sanduo ('Three abundances'), which differentiates from the arrangement of five fruiting sprays in double register as seen on the present piece.

Precise calculation and stringent measures must be implemented to regulate the firing conditions in order to ensure successful firing of a beautiful underglaze copper-red tone. According to the palace records in 1738, the Qianlong Emperor rejected an underglaze-red meiping painted with dragons for its unsatisfactory hue and demanded another attempt for a better colour, see Feng Xianming, op.cit., p. 232. The brilliant red tone of the present piece, executed to utmost precision, is an exemplary example of its type and token of success achieved by the imperial kiln.

See also a Qianlong blue-and-white meiping painted with three flowering and fruiting sprays in alternating double register, inspired by a Yongle prototype, published in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 63. In this book, Julian Thompson pointed out that Qing reinventions of early-Ming porcelains are usually finished with more orderly compositions and delicately painted decorations (p. 30).

The present meiping has an illustrious provenance; it was formerly in the collection of Sir Harry Garner, KBE, CB, Litt.D (1891-1977), who was a distinguished mathematician, famous scholar, collector, and once President of the Oriental Ceramic Society (1967-1970). He authored several standard reference works on Chinese art, for example, on blue-and-white porcelain, lacquer ware and cloisonné enamels, and donated much of his vast collection of Chinese ceramics and other works of art to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The vase was also published by the renowned Chinese scholar Soame Jenyns as early as 1951 in Later Chinese Porcelain, op.cit. (fig. 2).