A rare black-ground and green-enamelled 'floral' meiping, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 墨地綠彩纏枝花卉紋梅瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

Spink & Son Ltd., London (according to label).

Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦（標簽）

Elegantly fashioned with gently swelling shoulders and a tapering body, this meiping is a rare and notable example of wares decorated in green enamel against a glossy black ground. The stunning palette, here used to create a silhouette-like floral scroll, was created by first covering the entire vessel in translucent green enamel before reserving the design and adding fine details with black pigment. This colour combination originated in the Kangxi period as an extension of the famille-verte palette, where polychrome enamels are set against a white ground. By the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns the technique was refined by layering the black glaze to produce a glossier opaque effect as on this vase.

While open vessels such as bowls and dishes decorated in this visually striking palette are known, vases are unusual, and those of this form are very rare. Only one other closely related meiping appears to have been published, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 120. Compare also a slightly smaller meiping sold at Christie's New York, 2nd June 1994, lot 361.