A BLUE AND WHITE 'RED CLIFF' VASE QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

the tapering square section body rising to a tall waisted neck and flared rim, painted with Su Shi and two other scholars standing by a riverbank with a figure paddling a sampan boat in the river, alternating with the Former and Later Odes to the Red Cliff, painted with bamboo around the neck, the recessed square base with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Sotheby's London, 20th April 1971, lot 58.
Sotheby's London, 17th March 1981, lot 94.

This vase is in reasonably good condition, but does have a 2.8 by 8mm chip running up the vase to one corner of the base. There is also a chip to the underside of the base to another corner 1.3cm by 1cm. There are also three shallow chips to the edge of one side the largest 1.7cm by 5mm. There is also some fritting/glaze chips the to edge to two other sides and to five areas on the rim.
"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 piece belongs to a group of facetted vases painted with two scenes from the poem ‘Night Visit to the Red Cliff’ composed by the celebrated Northern Song poet Su Shi, who visited the site of Chi Bi (Red Cliff) in Hubei province, on the 5^th year of the Yuanfeng reign, corresponding to 1082. Julia B. Curtis in ‘Markets, Motifs and Seventeenth Century Porcelain from Jingdezhen’, The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Colloquies of Art and Archaeology in Asia, no. 16, London, 1993, p. 144, suggests that vases of this type were produced in the late 1680s and 1690s and notes that their composition follows the style of Southern Song paintings.

Related vases are held in important museums and private collections worldwide; see one in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 31; one included in the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society exhibition Chinese Blue and White Ceramics, National Museum, Singapore, 1978, cat. no. 262; another sold in these rooms, 17^th March 1981, lot 94; and a further example sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 22^nd May 1979, lot 187, and 13^th November 1990, lot 214. See also a vase of this form and design but with a spurious Jiajing mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 21, Shunzhi and Kangxi Periods of Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2013, pl. 70; and another sold at Christie’s New York, 21^st September 1995, lot 619.