A LARGE TURQUOISE-GROUND FAMILLE-ROSE 'DRAGON' VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG | 清乾隆 粉彩松綠地海水九龍雙耳盤口瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

Brightly enamelled with nine ferocious scaly five-clawed dragons writhing above turquoise waves, this sumptuous vase is a striking display of the virtuosity of the craftsmen working during the Qianlong period in both its massive size and decoration. It is rare to find Qianlong mark and period vases of such large size and only a small number appear to have been published, all with elaborate archaistic handles and different decoration; a coral-ground version enclosing figural panels on the body and neck, in the Palace of Fontainebleau, is illustrated in situ in Le Musée chinois de l’impératrice Eugénie, Paris, 1986, p. 24; another, also painted with figural panels against a turquoise ground, was sold at Christie’s New York, 14th September 2017, lot 748; and a third, decorated with a continuous landscape scene, reputedly from the collection of Jaap Nieuwenhuis, was sold in our New York rooms, 12th September 2018, lot 156. See also a smaller tianqiuping similarly painted with nine dragons against a turquoise wave ground, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2700.