A RARE FIVE-PIECE DOUCAI ALTAR GARNITURE SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

comprising a censer, a pair of candlesticks and a pair of vases, the robustly potted censer of globular form supported on three cabriole legs, set with a cylindrical neck with a galleried mouth, flanked by a pair of broad 'S'-shaped handles chamfered at the top with rectangular cut-outs, supported on the sides with oval struts shaped like bats, the candlesticks each with a bell-shaped base supporting a wide tray with an everted rim rising to a columnar neck and a smaller tray on top, fitted with a metal prick, the vases each of archaic gu shape with a similar bell-shaped foot rising to a convex central bulb set off by raised ribs, below a tall flaring neck, all painted with matching formal lotus scrolls in underglaze blue and different tones of green, red, yellow and aubergine enamels with details picked out in gilt, the blooms interspersed with buds all on a dense foliate vine, the foot skirted with zig-zag borders with additional key-fret, ruyi-head and trefoil borders to divide the vessels into sections, each inscribed with a horizontal six-character underglaze blue seal mark

Sotheby's London, 10th June 1991, lot 196.

Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/ Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 171.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1752.

1- First candlestick: There is a short stained hairline on the rim of the large tray and a hairline extending from the section below the tray to just above the bell-shaped base. 2- Gu vase: There is one V-shaped chip (approx. 7 x 6 x 6 cm) to the rim with an attendant crack (6cm). The belly has been broken and restored with further hairline cracks on the lotus flower. 3- Second candlestick: There is a V-shaped 5 cm section restuck chip to the rim of the pricket tray. There is a C-shaped chip to the larger tray extending from just above the " da " character on right of the mark and extending towards the back with another 8 cm wide chip on the left side of mark and further smaller consolidated chips at the rim. 4- Second gu vase: Portions of the mouth rim are restuck with some rebuilding and repaints on the interior. There is another resoration to the the base and a hairline extending down on base. 5- Ding: There is a 1.5 cm chip and some firtting to the rim. The handle on the right side has been broken and restuck just above the bat-shaped struts. The base of one leg has been broken and restuck. The enamels and gilding are 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."

It is very rare for such five-piece garnitures to have remained together, and only one similar doucai altar garniture appears to be recorded, of much smaller size, similarly painted but the main lotus blooms supporting emblems, presented by Lord Kitchener to Sir Thomas Hohler, and sold in our London rooms, 17th December 1980, lot 677, and again 11th May 2011, lot 230.

A somewhat larger single incense burner of this form, decorated with a related doucai pattern of lotus scrolls and Buddhist emblems, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. II, pl. 214. Another single incense burner of the same design was offered in these rooms 26th October 1993, lot 155, and a single vase, also decorated with further emblems, 27th April 1993, lot 178.