A BLUE AND WHITE VASE, MEIPING SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

well potted with gently curved sides and broad high shoulders rising to a short waisted neck with lipped rim, finely 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 sprays of peony, crab apple and chrysathemum sprigs, with lingzhi fungus growing amid 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, inscribed on the base with the six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue

There is a long vertical 25cm hairline crack by the pomegranate group on the shoulder stopping 2cm above the foot and some light scratches to the body. The overall condition is good.
"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 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.  See another similar meiping sold in these rooms 20/21st May 1987, lot 445 and again 27th April 2003, lot 59.