清康熙 青花「壽」字鳳尾尊一組三件

all of baluster form with elegant curved bodies rising to a flared neck and trumpet mouth, brilliantly painted in vivid tones of underglaze blue with eleven rows of stylised shou characters, all reserved against an elaborate floral honeycomb diaper ground of vibrant stars, above a collar of truncated ruyi motifs at the foot, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with an apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark within a double circle

Wilson P. Foss (1855-1930) 收藏
紐約蘇富比1997年3月19日，編號242

One vase: glaze flakes and chips to rim (the largest 7mm by 3mm), a hairline star crack to the body with the longest approx 35cm long and extending across the body,shoulder and neck, short firing cracks to the foot and a shallow chip (approx 1cm by 0.5cm), small burst glaze bubbles to interior and exterior. Vase 2: extensive burst glaze bubbles to the interior of neck and rim, 3 small patches of discoloration to the base of neck, minor glare pulls to base of neck. Vase 3: some burst glaze bubbles to the interior, 4 glaze pulls to the base of the neck, a 4-point hairline crack to the base with the longest extending almost the diameter.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A closely related vase, from the collection of K.R. Hensham, was sold in our London rooms, 17th November 1970, lot 102; and another, but lacking the ruyi band above the foot, was sold in these rooms, 10th April 2006, lot 1691.

Compare wanshou vases, covered overall in shou characters in underglaze blue, such as an ovoid example in the Nanjing Museum, included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 12, together with a baluster vase, cat. no. 13; and another baluster vase, also with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghua ci [Blue-and-white porcelain of the Shunzhi and Kangxi reigns of the Qing], Beijing, 2005, pl. 283. According to Peter Lam in ‘Myriad Longevity Without Boundaries. Some Qing Imperial Birthday Ceramics from Hong Kong Collections’, Arts of Asia, vol. 40, no. 5, September-October 2010, p. 107, these wanshou vases may have been produced for the Kangxi emperor’s sixtieth birthday celebrations in 1713. However, in an updated lecture presented in 2013, Peter Lam proposed a revision of his earlier research to suggest the wanshou vases may actually have been made around 1683 for the emperor’s thirtieth birthday according to the style of reign mark on shou-decorated brushpots and style of calligraphy of the shou characters.

These vases are also notable for the diaper ground which imitates textile designs; a similar pattern is found on a a yenyen vase, painted in underglaze blue with figures enclosed in lobed panels, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1982, lot 215; and another sold in our London rooms, 26th June 1979, lot 25.