A rare blue and white ‘flowers of the four seasons’ conjoined vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆　青花四季花卉紋四聯瓶　《乾隆年製》款

A Welsh family collection, acquired in London in the 1950s.

Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2016, lot 3202.

來源

威爾斯家族收藏，1950年代購於倫敦

香港佳士得2016年6月1日，編號3202

Exquisitely potted in the form of four conjoined cylindrical vases, the present vessel is exceptionally rare for its underglaze-blue decoration of the 'flowers of the four seasons'. A closely related, if not identical, example is preserved in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5: Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 151. The ingenious design is further highlighted by the reign mark, with the four characters Qian, long, nian, zhi individually inscribed on the base of each vase.

The unusual conjoined form draws inspiration from innovations of the preceding Yongzheng period, which were predominantly covered in monochrome glazes. Compare a Yongzheng mark and period Ru-type conjoined vase in the Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum's exhibition Qing Monochrome Porcelain, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 77; a celadon-glazed example from the J.M. Hu Collection, sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 40; and a Guan-type vase from the collection of James W. and Marilyn Alsdorf, sold twice at Christie's Hong Kong, 23rd March 1993, lot 735, and 2nd November 1999, lot 524. The form continued into the Qianlong reign, as evidenced by the present piece and a Ge-type glazed conjoined vase, bearing a Qianlong mark, sold at Christie's London, 11th May 2005, lot 9.

本品呈四聯圓柱狀，以青花繪四季花卉紋，極為珍罕。上海博物館藏有一例，與本品幾近無異，錄於劉良佑，《中國歷代陶瓷鑑賞：5 清官窯及民窯》，台北，1991年，頁151。此瓶器形別致，其款識佈局亦具匠心，四瓶底部各署「乾」、「隆」、「年」、「製」一字，相互呼應。

此類四聯瓶之獨特器形，實源自雍正朝之創新，然當時多見單色釉器。比較一雍正作例，施仿汝釉，署雍正年款，藏於台北故宮博物院，曾展於該院《清代單色釉瓷器特展》，台北，1981年，編號77；胡惠春舊藏一粉青釉例，1985年6月4日售於紐約蘇富比，編號40；另有一仿官釉例，出自 James W. 及 Marilyn Alsdorf 伉儷收藏，兩度售於香港佳士得，分別為1993年3月23日，編號735，及1999年11月2日，編號524。此器形延續至乾隆一朝，除本品外，另可參考一乾隆款仿哥釉四聯瓶，2005年5月11日售於倫敦佳士得，編號9。