A blue and white jue stand, Seal mark and period of Qianlong

Swedish Private Collection.

Qing Porcelain from Private Collections, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 40.

Compare a similar stand together with its matching jue preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, 1644–1911, London, cat. no. 44, where the author notes that the form derives from the ancient bronze jue, a vessel for heating wine, with three legs and two posts on the lip for lifting it from the flame. The stand, with its raised centre, was designed to anchor the legs securely. Decorated with stylised rocks among waves—akin to the pattern at the hem of Qing dragon and court robes—and with cranes soaring amidst clouds, the motif conveys wishes for longevity.

A further jue stand is in the Shanghai Museum and is published in Wang Qingzheng, A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics, Shanghai, vol. 1, p. 26, where the author records that "according to the document of the Department of Imperial Manufacture, in 1743 (the eighth year of the Qianlong reign), the Imperial Commission included sets of jue and their stands. Two varieties are specified: one with a rouge ground". Compare a related fencai example with an identical mark, preserved in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, vol. 39, Beijing, 1996, cat. no. 105.

The present form is based on a Yongle-period prototype, with dragons encircling the mountain-form central holder. An example of this early design from the Frederick M. Mayer Collection was exhibited in The Arts Council Gallery Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, The Oriental Ceramic Society, 1953–54, cat. no. 39, pl. 8a; later published by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, pt. II, London, 1994, pl. 37, where the author also illustrates two comparable jue and stands in the National Palace Museum, Beijing; and was sold at Christie’s London, 24th June 1974, lot 87, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th October 2011, lot 37.