A LARGE CANTON ENAMEL VASE QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

the ovoid body finely painted with four horsemen riding in a rocky landscape, amid leafy trees and Western-style buildings, joined by farmers with their horses on the other side of the mountain, all beneath a light blue sky with floating clouds, set with a waisted neck detailed with pendent plantain leaves and a band of stylised florets and foliage on a yellow ground, supported on a similarly decorated splayed foot

There is a 2 cm enamel loss at the rim. Apart from surface scratches especially at the rims, there are some expected enamel pulls on the body. There is a 15 cm repainted area at the splayed foot, surrounded by fine enamel cracks both on the exterior and the base. The exterior of the vase is meticulously decorated with most of the original enamelling well preserved.
"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 vase is impressive for its large size and quality of the painting, and the carefully enamelled scene suggests that it was made by experienced Chinese artists possibly trained in the Palace Workshop by the Jesuit missionaries who introduced the technique of enamelling on metal to the court. The presence of four men equipped with light weaponry on horses and the stately manor in the background suggests that the scene derives from European hunting scenes made popular by the English painter James Seymour (1702-52) and often depicted on export porcelain. This representation of the theme is unusual in that it has been placed within a Chinese-style landscape, as seen in the vast and irregular forms of the rocky hills.

It is rare to find Canton enamel vases decorated overall with a continuous European subject scene. A comparable example, enamelled with churches in a landscape under similarly rendered clouds in a blue sky, with a Qianlong reign mark and of the period, is illustrated in Margaret Jourdain and R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Export Art, London, 1967, pl. 113. Further vases enamelled with a European subject within shaped panels include an opulently decorated example included in the exhibition Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 46; and another from the Estate of Elizabeth Halsey Dock, sold in our New York rooms, 1^st June 1993, lot 97, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 3^rd December 2008, lot 2520.

For a Qianlong mark and period vase of related ovoid shape and tall flared neck and foot, but of lobed form and decorated with prunus blossoms on a blue ground, see one in the Qing Court collection, and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 214.