A FINE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE MEIPING MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

the rounded sides elegantly rising from a slightly bulging rounded base and a straight foot to a short waisted neck below a lipped rim, deftly painted around the exterior in shades of cobalt with large undulating foliate stems issuing serrate leaves, furled amid a dense network of smaller curling twigs and scrolls, all between a double line border repeated under the mouth rim, the base inscribed with a six-character mark within double circles in underglaze blue

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th November 1996, lot 805.

The vase is in extremely good condition with only a few light scratches to the surface glaze.
"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 elegant vase represents the Yongzheng emperor’s passion for classic styles of the past, his taste for exacting contemporary design and his insistence on outstanding quality. The Yongzheng emperor took a keen interest in the work of various imperial manufactories in his empire, particularly the production of the Jingdezhen imperial kilns, and artistic direction was led by his personal taste. By fine-tuning shapes to harmonious proportions, developing sophisticated designs, and taking best works of the past as standards to aspire to, together with his brilliant kiln supervisor, Tang Ying, he achieved a distinctive style and refinement unmatched in any other period.

The present vase may be regarded as an echo of a famous Ming doucai bottle painted with scrolling fronds, such as one from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 60. While the Ming vase is of pear shape, it similarly takes a secondary scrolling motif and places it as the primary decorative motif. The Yongzheng craftsman has created a highly contemporary design by infusing the scroll with a featheriness that is characteristic of Western scrolling fronds, indicative of the artistic and cultural exchange of his time. A closely related example from the Shorenstein collection, was sold three times in our rooms and most recently at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1^st December 2010, lot 2966; another was sold in these rooms, 15^th May 1990, lot 138; and a third example, but against a yellow-enamelled ground, is published in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, pl. 209.

A Yongzheng ovoid vase similarly decorated with the typically secondary motif of scrolling clouds, but in the doucai palette, was sold in these rooms, 8^th April 2010, lot 1862, where Regina Krahl notes that the ‘eccentric, almost completely abstract design is most characteristic of the taste of the Yongzheng emperor, who was a somewhat eccentric personality himself’ (p. 212).