A superb and extremely rare blue and white vase with fruit and floral sprays, ganlanping, Mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正　青花折枝花果紋橄欖瓶　《大清雍正年製》款

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 20th November 1985, lot 69.

Christie’s Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 338.

Lai Antiques Ltd., Hong Kong.

Amongst the rare group of Yongzheng-period vessels with moulded elements, the present vase stands out as exceptional in its use of underglaze blue decoration to further accentuate the piece’s three-dimensionality. Although moulded relief petals around the base may be found on peachbloom-glazed wares of the Kangxi period, Geng Baochang records an outline drawing of this vase form as a purely Yongzheng period innovation; see Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 234, fig. 400 (12). 

To date, only one other vase of this size and design – very likely made as a pair to the present – appears to be recorded, from the collection of Evelyn Annenberg Hall, sold at Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006 lot 158, and again in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3036 for forty-six million Hong Kong dollars. Beyond this, only two other pieces of smaller size (ca. 30 cm) bear a close resemblance to the present, and were also likely produced as a pair, now separated: the first still preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 78; and the other from the Huaihaitang Collection, purchased from Christie’s Paris, 23rd November 2004, lot 264, and sold at Poly Hong Kong, 4th June 2023, lot 3808. These smaller versions have shorter necks and less flared mouths, lending the overall form a slightly squatter and heavier appearance than the present. While the decoration found on the two versions are closely comparable, the lengthened form of the current vase is accentuated by the extended floral band to the neck and the addition of a plain white band below the plantain leaves – two design elements that have created a more pleasing and elegant shape compared to the shorter variety.

The decoration of three blossoming floral branches and three fruiting branches is not only one of the most aesthetically pleasing motifs in Chinese art, but also rich in auspicious symbolism. Often referred to as the fruits of ‘abundance’, the peach represents the wish for longevity while the pomegranate and gourd – with their many seeds – recall wishes for abundant descendants. Compare similar decoration of fruiting branches found on a Yongzheng period blue and white pear-shaped vase sold in these rooms, 18th and 19th May 1982, lot 208; and another ovoid vase attributed to the Yongzheng reign, also sold in these rooms, 12th May 1976, lot 133. This motif continued to be used during the reign of the Qianlong emperor. Compare, for example, a pair of meiping sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2024, lot 131; and another published in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 63, where Julian Thompson on p. 28, discusses this group of Qing blue and white wares as ‘re-designs’ of Yongle period (1402-1424) patterns with changes of detail, particularly in the borders and with simulated ‘heaping and piling’ of cobalt-blue. 

By the High Qing period, ‘Heaping and piling’ – the initially unintentional spotting of early cobalt pigments – had become a much desired feature of blue and white designs; a conspicuous nod to the Ming dynasty and the golden age of Chinese porcelain. Intentionally adding uneven dottings of underglaze blue across the floral designs and formal bands of the present vase, the imperial craftsmen were able to produce a rich variegated surface, akin to the finest Yongle period wares. Compare an archetypal Yongle period meiping preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, in Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, pl. 15, which also shares the present vase’s embrace of negative space to emphasise the painterly and free-spirited nature of the contrasting floral design.

運用模印裝飾之雍正官窰，為數甚稀，本瓶以青花融合凸印造形，突顯紋飾立體感，耀眼奪目，端麗華貴。以模印裝飾足牆一技，可見於康熙朝豇豆紅釉瓷，耿寶昌曾記錄橄欖瓶線描圖，乃雍正朝新式，見《明清瓷器鑑定》，香港，1993年，頁234，圖400（12）。

現知存世唯一類例，應與本瓶成對，出自Evelyn Annenberg Hall舊藏，2006年3月29日售於紐約佳士得，編號158，後於2013年10月8日售於香港蘇富比，編號3036（圖一），成交價逾四千六百萬港幣。另有兩件同類雍正青花瓶，尺寸較小（高30公分），一為清宮舊藏，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．青花釉裏紅（下）》，香港，2000年，圖版78；另著錄於《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989年，圖版4；及《故宮博物院藏清代御窰瓷器》，卷1，北京，2005年，圖版28。另一件可能與清宮所藏為一對，並於2007-2008年間在香港中文大學文物館展出，見《機暇清賞：懷海堂藏清代御窰瓷缾》，香港，圖版88。此兩件較小的例子器頸稍短，口微撇，器形外觀較此拍品厚重。雖然大小兩種器形的紋飾可相媲美，但本品瓶頸修長，在頸、肩的蕉葉紋和纏枝花紋之間加上一道留白的空間，令紋飾更為疏朗優雅，讓人賞心悅目。

器腹上三組折枝花卉紋，和下腹的三組折枝桃、石榴、瓜紋，源自傳統，雅緻且悅目，更富吉祥寓意。瑞果寄意富足，桃紋寓意長壽，石榴和葫蘆象徵子孫興旺，福壽萬代。比較一件飾折枝瑞果紋的雍正青花瓶於1982年5月18/19日香港蘇富比賣出，編號208；另一繪同樣紋飾的橄欖瓶則於1976年5月12日香港蘇富比拍賣，編號133。此紋飾沿用至乾隆朝，如一對青花梅瓶，售於倫敦蘇富比，2024年11月6日，編號131。另一件為天民樓珍藏，見《天民樓藏瓷》，香港，1987年， 圖版63，其中，頁28，朱湯生論此批青花器是仿效明永樂青花紋飾，在永樂紋飾的基礎上加以改變，特別在線條和以繪畫重現明青花之鐵斑特徴。

以盛清時期的藝術技法重現永樂風格，可見曾經無意的青花鐵斑，已成為備受仰慕之特色，象徵前朝瓷藝輝煌成就。運用點染傚仿自然生成的濃黑斑點，錯落於紋飾間，相襯瑩白釉面，仿若明永樂官瓷，意趣橫生。參考北京故宮博物院藏一件明永樂青花折枝花果紋梅瓶，見耿寶昌，《故宮博物院藏明初青花瓷》，上冊，北京，2002，圖版15，另一與本品類同細節是每層紋飾之間的留白，使紋飾更加明快疏朗，畫意悠長。

來源

香港蘇富比1985年11月20日，編號69

香港佳士得1990年10月8日，編號338

黎氏古玩，香港