Vase en porcelaine de la famille rose Chine, dynastie Qing, marque et époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

de forme balustre quandrangulaire sur un court pied évasé, à décor polychrome de fleurs de lotus indien et feuilles d'acanthe sur fond rouge rubis, le col avec tête de lion de chaque côté, le pied avec une frise de grecques en émail bleu sur fond blanc, la base avec la marque zhuanshu de l'empereur Qianlong à six caractères dans un double cadre en rouge sur couverte

Offert par le Contre-Amiral Dupuis (1834-1911) à sa soeur et dans la famille depuis.

The loose rings that the lion's masks handles were orginally holding in their mouth are now lost. There is a yellowing discolouration on the ruby ground enamel where these loose rings were resting. A tiny flake to one corner of the mouth rim. Rubbing to the gilding around the rim. Otherwise the vase is in good condition.
"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."

The refined painting and subtle use of the enamels on the current vase is a testament to the fine and exacting standards achieved by artists working in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in the early half of the Qianlong period. A pair of vases of closely related archaic hu form and similar small size, but with the handles in the shape of elephant heads and decorated with lotus scrolls interspersed with the bajixiang symbols, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 22^nd May 1985, lot 169. The mark on this vase is almost identical and possibly by the same hand as that found on a ruby-ground oviform vase finely decorated with stylized lotus blooms and leafy scrolling stems, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27^th May 2008, lot 1547.

Related flower scroll decoration on a ruby-ground appears on a meiping preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 361, pl. 42; on a pear-shaped vase sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 20^th November 1985, lot 144; and on an oviform vessel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, included in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 278.