A RARE YELLOW-GROUND UNDERGLAZE-BLUE 'LOTUS' ARCHAISTIC VASE, QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD | 清乾隆 黃地青花纏枝蓮紋出戟雙耳瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

Yamanaka & Company, Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art, (in liquidation under the supervision of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States of America), New York, 1943, cat. no. 1188.

山中商會，《Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art》(in liquidation under the supervision of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States of America)，紐約，1943年，編號1188

Vibrantly painted with a lotus scroll in vivid underglaze-blue against a striking yellow ground, this vase celebrates tradition through both its form and design and pays testament to the Qianlong Emperor’s keen interest in antiquity. Its form and raised flanges echo China’s glorious Bronze Age, while its floral scroll and choice of palette are rooted in imperial porcelain of the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). By combining harmoniously design elements from different traditions and fusing them with a brilliant yellow enamel, the craftsmen of this piece has created a visually striking and contemporary vase with direct imperial association.

Vases of this form and painted with a lotus scroll against a yellow ground are very rare an no other closely related example appears to have been published, although a very similar blue and white version from the Huaihaitang collection, included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2008, pl. 102, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26^th October 2003, lot 143.

Vases of this form are more commonly known covered in monochrome glazes, such as a clair-de-lune glazed vase, but with the handles modelled as lingzhi, in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Gakuji Hasabe, Chūgoku no tōji [Chinese ceramics], vol. 11, Tokyo, 1996, pl. 79, together with a tea dust-glazed version, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, pl. 80; and a vase covered overall in a flambé glaze, sold in our new York rooms, 4^th June 1987, lot 137. See also a Qianlong mark and period bronze simulation vase lacking the raised flanges, from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 953, and sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5^th October 2011, lot 19.  

Modelled after a contemporary bronze prototype, which would in turn have been inspired by archaic bronze lei of the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1050-771 BC), vases of this form were first made in porcelain in the Yongzheng reign (r. 1723-1735). See for example a Yongzheng mark and period claire-de-lune vase, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing imperial porcelain], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 116; and a flambé-glazed example, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29^th April 2002, lot 654, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 8^th October 2006, lot 1006.

本瓶黃地青花纏枝蓮紋鮮豔分明，器型紋飾均能反映乾隆皇帝慕古之情。出戟器型，取靈感自青銅時代，纏枝蓮紋，則以早明御瓷為藍，乾隆朝藝匠揉合歷代工藝經典元素，加上鮮明黃釉，乾隆帝親自監督創製，所成瓷器慕古創新，兼而有之。

此器形之黃地纏枝蓮紋作例異常罕見，疑為孤例，唯可比較一青花近例，懷海堂收藏，曾展於《機暇明道：懷海堂藏明代中晚期官窰瓷器》，香港中文大學文物館，香港，2008年，圖版102，售於香港蘇富比2003年10月26日，編號143。

相近器形作例，較多為單色釉瓷，例如東京國立博物館收藏一天藍釉例，耳呈靈芝形，曾展於長谷部楽爾，《中国の陶磁》，卷11，東京，1996年，圖版79，同書並載一茶末釉例，現藏於東京出光美術館，圖版 80；另比一窰變釉例，售於紐約蘇富比1987年6月4日，編號137。再比一例，仿青銅，無出戟耳，雍正年器並款，出自玫茵堂收藏，圖載於康蕊君，《玫茵堂藏中國陶瓷》，卷2，倫敦，1994年，圖版953，售於香港蘇富比2011年10月5日，編號19。

此瓶器型仿同期銅器原型，後者取材西周高古青銅罍。此形之瓷器首見於雍正年，比較一件天藍釉瓶例，北京故宮博物院收藏，雍正年器並款，圖載於《清代御窯瓷器》，卷1(2)，北京，2005年，圖版116，另比一窰變釉例，售於香港佳士得2002年4月29日，編號654，後易手於香港蘇富比2006年10月8日，編號1006。