AN EXQUISITE PAIR OF TURQUOISE-GLAZED 'POMEGRANATE' VASES CARVED SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$2,500,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THE BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREMIUM LOTS.

 



masterfully potted, each with a globular body sweeping up to a short neck flaring at the mouth terminating in an everted rim with six overhanging ruyi lappets, the body finely carved in raised relief with seven luscious lotus flower heads evenly spaced around the body and interconnected to each other by an elaborate foliate scroll with meandering vines, all above a band of upright petal lappets filled with concentric lines skirting the foot, covered overall in a rich and vibrant opaque turquoise glaze blanketing the carved six-character reign mark on the recessed base, stand

Acquired in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s.

Zandelou Qingdai guanyao danseyou ciqi/Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zandelou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 47 (only one vase illustrated).

Helen D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collection of Chinese Ceramics from the Pavilion of Ephemeral Attainment, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1950, pl. 193.

There are just a couple minute enamel flakes to the raised areas. There is one 3 mm area on the raised stem on one vase that has been retouched with turquoise enamelling. The overall condition is very good. The actual colours of the pair are quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

Turquoise-Glazed Vases in the 18th Century
Regina Krahl

This pair of turquoise-glazed relief-decorated vases represents a new departure for porcelain design in the early 18th century. It was not uncommon to apply coloured low-fired glazes on a high-fired, unglazed biscuit and many biscuit-glazed turquoise vessels are known. It was unusual, however, to apply pastel-coloured glazes, mixed with white enamel, in this way. In the present case, the opaque quality of the glaze admirably reproduces the matte gloss and smooth texture of natural turquoise gemstone and the relief-design contributes further to the effect of the vases being carved from stone.

A similar pomegranate-shaped vase, of smaller size and with a globular body, decorated in relief with bats and emblems among flower scrolls but under a transparent glaze, is in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, and was included in the museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 64 (fig. 1), together with a brushwasher with relief decoration under a similar turquoise glaze, cat. no. 49; another brushwasher with carved flower scrolls under a similar glaze was included in the exhibition Shimmering Colours. Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods. The Zhuyuetang Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 107.

A meiping decorated in this technique with formal flower scrolls and phoenixes and with the same enamel applied on the biscuit is in the Baur Collection, Geneva, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 324 (fig. 2); its pair in the National Museum of China, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 15, pl. 102, together with a basin of similar colour and relief decoration in the Beijing Art Museum, pl. 101. A lantern vase with relief decoration under a similar turquoise glaze, also of Qianlong mark and period, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 455, pl. 137.

The same technique was also used with other pastel-coloured glazes. See, for example, another lantern vase, very similar to the last, but with a pale apple-green glaze, included in the exhibition In Pursuit of Antiquities: Min Chiu Society 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2001, cat. no. 187.