AN UNUSUAL PAIR OF 'FAMILLE-ROSE' TROMPE-L'OEIL WALL VASES MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT.   CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS ARE REQUESTED TO COMPLETE THE PREMIUM LOT PRE-REGISTRATION 3 WORKING DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE.




each vase finely potted in the form of a pipa tucked in a simulated brocade bag tied at the neck with an iron-red and gilt ribbon, with folds running across the sides and the curling ends trailing below, decorated to the front with a cash-diaper pattern against a lemon-yellow ground, the underside with scattered gilt florets on a 'cracked-ice' ground, the scroll in the form of a ruyi head, with a keyfret at the neck and a triangular diaper pattern at the frets in gilt, inscribed to the side with two mock seals in iron-red reading Qianlong nian zhi

Acquired from an antiques dealer in France in 1987.

The present pair of famille-rose wall vases is an exquisite example of the innovative and unconventional designs achieved in ceramics manufacturing during Qianlong's reign. The Qianlong emperor had a unique approach to ceramics design; firstly he favoured copies or replicas, secondly, he enjoyed objects that were simulations of other materials and thirdly, he challenged artists to make pieces that were technically innovative and unconventional in their aesthetics.

During Qianlong's reign and often under his personal supervision, simulations were produced that were difficult to separate from the 'real' and these pieces became the trompe-l'oeil of ceramics. The present pair of wall vases, simulating two pipa instruments stored in beautiful soft brocade bags, is a good example of the striking trompe-l'oeil pieces manufactured in the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. Zhu Yan in Tao shuo, published in 1774, noted that 'in fact, among all the works of art in carved gold, embossed silver, chiselled stone, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, bamboo and wood, gourd and shell, there is not one that is not now produced in porcelain, a perfect imitation of the orginal (fang xiao er xiao)'.

This pair of wall vases are also special because no other similar example appears to be recorded. The design of covering vessels with what appears to be textile packaging can be found on famille-rose vases; for example see a blue-and-white vase decorated with a famille-rose design imitating drape brocade tied in a knot around the vase, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Imperial Packing Art of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2000, pl. 66. The effect of this decoration is the skillful blending of two materials, silk and porcelain.