A fine blue and white vase, meiping seal mark and period of Qianlong

finely potted with gently curved sides and broad high shoulders, rising to a short waisted neck with lipped rim, delicately painted in vivid tones of cobalt-blue with simulated 'heaping and piling' to the sides with detached fruiting sprays of pomegranate, lychee and peach, alternating with flowering peony, crab apple and chrysanthemum sprigs with lingzhi fungus growing amid the leafy branches, all evenly spaced between a band of stiff upright leaves around the base and pendant lotus lappets at the shoulder, the neck encircled by floral sprays, the base inscribed with the six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue

Christie's Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot 699.

The meiping is in excellent condition overall. The simulated heaping and piling effect is more pronounced than the illustration suggests.
"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."

A similar Qianlong vase, from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 546, is illustrated in Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 153; another in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C.Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 63, where Julian Thompson discusses the group of Qing blue-and-white wares to which this vase belongs, painted with 'redesigns of Yongle patterns with changes of detail, particularly in the borders' and with simulated 'heaping and piling' of cobalt blue (ibid., p. 28). For the 15th century prototype of this design compare a meiping in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 12.

Compare a Qianlong vase of this form and design sold in these rooms, 20/21st May 1987, lot 445, and again, 27th April 2003, lot 59; and another from the T.Y. Chao collection, included in the exhibition Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat.no. 79, sold as one of a pair in our New York rooms, 24th May 1974, lot 420, and again in these rooms, 19th May 1989, lot 270.