A rare famille-rose 'peony' bottle vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 粉彩捷報富貴紋荸薺瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

On this vase the eye is immediately drawn to the large peony blooms with petals and leaves delicately bending and twisting as if moved by a gentle breeze. Painted in vivid enamels against a pristine white porcelain ground, this motif represents the culmination of a painterly style that became popular in the Kangxi period, and was refined under the Yongzheng (r. 1723-1735) and Qianlong (r. 1736-1795) Emperors. These wares illustrate the influence that contemporary paintings on paper and silk had on porcelain, especially the works of the artist Yun Shouping (1633-1690), whose flower paintings in vivid and bold colours became very popular in the Qing dynasty. Yun’s influence on porcelain designs is evident in the rendering of petals with different shades as well as the twisted leaves. Compare for example a painting of peonies by Yun in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published on the Museum’s website, accession no. K2A00123N000000002PAA.  

Vases of this design and unusual form are rare, although a closely related example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 89.