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Lot Essay
This handsome pair of vases display an exuberant complexity of form and decoration that can be seen on a number of vessels made for the Qianlong emperor. Several published Qianlong vases have mouths which turn down in a series of pendant ruyi. Two blue and white vases with similar turned-down ruyi mouths decorated with lingzhi fungus have been published; one from the collection of the National Palace Museum in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty II, Hong Kong, 1968, pp. 40-1, pl. 10; the other was sold in these rooms on 11 July, 2006, lot 142.
The turned-down mouths seen on Ming and Qing dynasty porcelains may ultimately derive from the vases with lobed turned-down mouths made in the 12th and 13th centuries. These latter vases were made at the Jun kilns and the Cizhou kilns, as well as among qingbai porcelains from the Jingdezhen kilns (see R. Kerr, Song Ceramics, London, 2004, p. 32, no. 22; T. Mikami, Sekai Toji Zenshu 13 Liao Jin Yuan, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 110-11, no. 92; and S. Pierson (ed.), Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, London, 2002, pp. 136-7, no. 71). The first appearance of turned-down mouths on blue and white wares from the Jingdezhen kilns appears to be in the Xuande reign, on vases such as the vessel illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Hsüan-tê Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 80-1, no. 13.
However the distinctive ruyi or lappet-shape of the down-turned mouth on vessels such as the current pair of vases appears to be a Qianlong innovation. It can be seen not only on blue and white vases, but also on a famille rose vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Views of Antiquity in the Qing Imperial Palace: special exhibition to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum, Museu de Arte de Macau, 2006, p. 25, no. 52); on another famille rose vase in the Palace Museum illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with cloisonné enamel decoration and famille rose decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 137, no. 120; while this type of neck can also be seen on a gu-shaped, celadon-glazed, vase from the same collection, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong - Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 461, no. 143.
The current pair of vases is distinctive because the pendant ruyi at the mouth are balanced by similar ruyi at the foot. These lower ruyi, are not simply painted, but are cut to give the foot a much greater lightness, as well as matching the mouth detail more precisely. The fact that the vases were then fired on the lower edges of the ruyi, rather than on a solid edge, would have made firing considerably more difficult, which may explain the rarity of this feature. The form of the elaborate dragon handles on this pair of vases is also distinctive. The general form of the handles, and especially the feature of the dragon's head being turned away from the neck of the vessel, can be seen on the handles of a large Qianlong doucai dragon flask in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 278, no. 254.
The turned-down mouths seen on Ming and Qing dynasty porcelains may ultimately derive from the vases with lobed turned-down mouths made in the 12th and 13th centuries. These latter vases were made at the Jun kilns and the Cizhou kilns, as well as among qingbai porcelains from the Jingdezhen kilns (see R. Kerr, Song Ceramics, London, 2004, p. 32, no. 22; T. Mikami, Sekai Toji Zenshu 13 Liao Jin Yuan, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 110-11, no. 92; and S. Pierson (ed.), Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, London, 2002, pp. 136-7, no. 71). The first appearance of turned-down mouths on blue and white wares from the Jingdezhen kilns appears to be in the Xuande reign, on vases such as the vessel illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Hsüan-tê Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 80-1, no. 13.
However the distinctive ruyi or lappet-shape of the down-turned mouth on vessels such as the current pair of vases appears to be a Qianlong innovation. It can be seen not only on blue and white vases, but also on a famille rose vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Views of Antiquity in the Qing Imperial Palace: special exhibition to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum, Museu de Arte de Macau, 2006, p. 25, no. 52); on another famille rose vase in the Palace Museum illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with cloisonné enamel decoration and famille rose decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 137, no. 120; while this type of neck can also be seen on a gu-shaped, celadon-glazed, vase from the same collection, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong - Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 461, no. 143.
The current pair of vases is distinctive because the pendant ruyi at the mouth are balanced by similar ruyi at the foot. These lower ruyi, are not simply painted, but are cut to give the foot a much greater lightness, as well as matching the mouth detail more precisely. The fact that the vases were then fired on the lower edges of the ruyi, rather than on a solid edge, would have made firing considerably more difficult, which may explain the rarity of this feature. The form of the elaborate dragon handles on this pair of vases is also distinctive. The general form of the handles, and especially the feature of the dragon's head being turned away from the neck of the vessel, can be seen on the handles of a large Qianlong doucai dragon flask in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 278, no. 254.