A Painted Enamel 'European Subject' Vase Qianlong Seal Mark and Period

the shield-shaped body rising from a stepped foot to a waisted neck and lipped rim, flanked by a pair of ruyi scroll handles, painted with two cartouches enclosing European figures in a hunting scene, divided by meandering floral scrolls repeated at the neck, the angled shoulders with a band of squirrels clambering amidst grape vines, all reserved on a café-au-lait ground, the rim and foot encircled by foliate bands, inscribed with a six-character Qianlong seal mark to the base

Collection of James E. Sowell.

There are areas of restoration to the base of the neck, where it meets the body, the shoulder, where it meets the body and the upper part of the foot where it meets the body. There are serveral minor stress cracks to the enamel to the interior rim and neck. There is also two stress cracks to one side of one handle and there is some minor scratching to the sides of the body.
"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."

The present vase belongs to a select group of wares, all decorated with European subject matters and produced by skilled Guangzhou artists who produced tribute items for the Qing Court. The exceptional quality of the painting seen on wares in this group suggest that the Guangzhou artists were trained by Jesuit missionaries who introduced the technique of enamelling on metal to China. The painting style and colour palette seen here is comparable to that found on a covered cup with its matching saucer, painted in a soft pastel famille-rose palette on a copper ground with three allegorical vignettes, each enclosed within a cartouche of formalized floral design and the panels reserved on a ground of dense mille-fleur motif, offered in our Hong Kong rooms, 11^thApril 2008, lot 2843.

A vase of related form and composition, but painted on a powder-blue ground, in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art II, New York, 1980, pl. 113; and its pair, from the collection of Elizabeth Halsey Dock, included in exhibition on Chinese Export Porcelain and Enamels, Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, Delaware, 1957, cat. no. 283, was 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. Another vase of the same form and similar decoration on a white ground, from the Royal Collections at Buckingham Palace, was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2322. Compare also a baluster form Qianlong enamelled vase, the decoration painted on a pale-yellow ground, sold twice at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30^th September 1992, lot 894, and again, 23^rd March 1993, lot 566.