A RARE AND FINELY ENAMELLED FAMILLE-ROSE 'BOYS' VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAQING

the ovoid body set with broad sloping shoulders, tapering to a round splayed foot, the body exquisitely decorated in bright enamels and traces of gilding with a continuous scene of boys at play celebrating the Spring Lantern festival set within gardens in a landscape, the children depicted in animated groups holding lanterns, playing music from drums, cymbals and horns, lighting a firecracker and carrying auspicious emblems, all between a trefoil and key-fret borders at the shoulder, above the key-fret border around the base and inverted leaf petals around the foot, the waisted neck enamelled with two blooming peonies, flanked by a pair of gilded and iron-red dragon handles, with a classic ruyi-head band below the gilded mouth rim, the fine white porcelain base with six-character underglaze blue seal mark

The vase is well potted with fine white porcelain and brilliantly enamelled. A faint hairline measured 2.5 cm from the mouth rim; a clean break to the lower half of the handle repaired with associated glaze chips; minor enamel gilding loss typical for ware of this type.
"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."

This rare vase belongs to a group of wares produced at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the early years of Jiaqing's reign. Wares of this period continued to be influenced by Qianlong designs and were possibly produced by the same potters who made wares for the Qianlong emperor and his household. The form of this fine and meticulously painted vase is reminiscent of Qianlong vases also depicting boys at play with similarly high sloping shoulders and a tall cylindrical neck painted with lotus blooms and twin-fish, but with rims turned over and moulded into a border of ruyi heads and without handles; see a pair sold in our London rooms, 10^th June 1997, lot 95; another sold at Christie's New York, 1^st December 1994, lot 440; and another, but of globular form, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, 1989, p. 341, pl. 22.

For further examples of Jiaqing vases of various shapes depicting the theme of boys at play, see one with angled shoulders and archaistic handles flanking a flaring yellow-ground neck enamelled with flowers and emblems, sold at Christie's London, 16^th November 1999, lot 248; and another portraying the boys participating in a dragon boat race between ruby-ground and famille-rose decorated neck and foot, in the Huahaitang collection, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 138.

The depiction of multiple boys at play in a garden, representing the wish for many sons, was a popular theme in the decorative arts of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the present vase, each of the boys are engaged in activities potent with symbolism; the first character of 'lantern' is a pun for 'bumper harvest' (fengdeng), which equates with peace, while the boys carrying lanterns in the shape of a fish (yu) is a pun for 'abundance'.