Elegantly decorated with early-Ming inspired motifs, the craftsman of this vase has also successfully simulated the distinctive mottled ‘heaping and piling’ effect of the celebrated 15th-century blue and white wares through a deliberate application of darker and thicker spots of cobalt on the design. Beginning with the Yongzheng Emperor, successive rulers revisited this famous blue and white pattern. Closely related Qianlong period examples include one in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Treasures of the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 233; one in the Shanghai Museum is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], vol. 15, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 2; and four vases are illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, vol. III, London, 1996, pl. 2564, one with an elaborate 19th-century Ottoman gilt-metal cover. Another vase of this type, from the Toguri Collection, was sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 5; another was sold in these rooms, 3rd December 2015, lot 426; and a third one was sold in our New York rooms, 12th September 2018, lot 148.