la panse quasi-circulaire de section ovale, le col fin flanqué de deux anses arquées, les deux côtés peints en bleu de cobalt profond de plusieurs compositions de fleurs et d'oiseaux, représentant un étourneau perché sur une branche fleurie mêlée d'une tige de bambou, entouré de prunus d'une côté et de poires de l'autre, entre des rinceaux feuillagés, le col rehaussé de bambous et d'une marque à six caractères sous le bord, la base réservée; restauration
Acquired in China before 1922.
Thence in the family by descent.
There is a break around the entire neck where the neck joins the body and it was reattached in the past (visible in the catalogue illustration). Both handles are broken where they join the neck and where they join the shoulders and reattached in the past (visible in the catalogue illustration). There is light scratching to the glaze around the body of the vase and particularly to the centre of one side and the lower part of the same side. The base is unglazed and has a ca. 12cm long firing crack running along one side and curving around the base. There is some wear around and a pin-point imperfection to the rim. There are also scattered pin-point imperfections around the body of the vase. The vase very slightly leans to one side.
The underglaze blue is of a beautiful more varied and darker blue tone, the white a clearer tone than the catalogue illustration suggests.
"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."
In its form and decoration, the present moonflask closely copies a Yongle prototype of which only one example appears to be extant, from the Sir Percival David Collection and now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall,
Chinese Ceramics. Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection, London, 2009, no. 28, p. 61. Only few Yongzheng examples of this design are known including the well-known example formerly in the Collection of Richard de la Mare and the Meiyintang Collection, first sold at Sotheby's London, 2nd April 1974, lot 369, last sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7th April 2011, lot 76; and a second example of the same size and design but unmarked, sold Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4th and 5th November 1997, lot 1371.
Only one other marked version of this type originally bearing a Yongzheng seal mark, is of larger size and slightly more elaborate design, sold Sotheby's London, 11th November 1990, lot. 325.
Like the few other known examples of this type, the sensitivity of the Qing craftsmen to absorb and reproduce the qualities of the Yongle original is remarkable and manifest in the present Yongzheng version. Two of the unmarked Yongzheng examples were in fact considered as Yongle originals, see Duncan Mackintosh, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, Newton Abbot, 1977, pl. 55, and Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 14. For a discussion on Qing porcelains with 'redesigns' of Ming patterns including Yongzheng examples, compare Julian Thompson, Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Part II, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 29.
