.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This superb meiping belongs to a small and very elite group of Yongzheng-marked vessels distinguished by their soft palette and decorated with a combination of floral bouquet designs and stylized curling scrolls in delicate enameling. The current vessel appears to be one of only three published examples of this type. One example (26.3 cm. high) with nearly identical decoration is in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum—38—Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colors, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 225. Another example (26.3 cm. high), also with identical decoration, is in the Palace Museum collection, is illustrated in Qing Dynasty Porcelain, vol. 1, Beijing, 2005, no. 50.
The design on this meiping has also been found on other vessel forms and most commonly, on bowls. A Yongzheng-marked garlic-head vase with ruyi-form handles with his design is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 197, no. 26. Examples of this design on bowls include examples published in Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko. Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, p.142, pl.100, a bowl illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours—38-- The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 250, pl. 229, an example published in Gu taoci ziliao xuancui, vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, no. 143, and a pair formerly in the Au Bak Ling Collection and sold in The Au Bak Ling Collection Volume II; Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 October 2025, lot 955.
The design, palette and form of this meiping are all inspired by early Ming-dynasty elements. The Yongzheng emperor was a known antiquarian and the designs and forms of pieces from this period are often inspired by earlier dynasties. Doucai decoration, for example, was first found in the Xuande period, but was utilized and perfected in the Chenghua period (1465-1487) and Chenghua-period doucai vessels with floral motifs have been highly prized throughout Chinese art history. A Chenghua-marked stem cup in the collection of the British Museum is decorated with circular groupings of lotus flowers between scroll designs at the rim, and is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Early Ming Porcelains in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 167, no. 6:11. Another Chenghua-marked bowl is decorated with groupings of chrysanthemum between scrolling vines that curl between the empty space in the medallions, a similar concept to the design on the present meiping (see Palace Museum ed., Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty II, Beijing, 2016, pp. 370-71, no. 155). While the combination of floral groupings and scroll designs in these Chenghua-period doucai vessels may have served as an inspiration for the design on the present vessel, the lotus bouquet design on the present vessel is a Yongzheng-period innovation.
The current meiping is among the finest examples of Yongzheng-period porcelain, showcasing the sophisticated elegance and innovative design characteristic of the finest pieces produced in the imperial kiln at this time.
The design on this meiping has also been found on other vessel forms and most commonly, on bowls. A Yongzheng-marked garlic-head vase with ruyi-form handles with his design is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 197, no. 26. Examples of this design on bowls include examples published in Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko. Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, p.142, pl.100, a bowl illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours—38-- The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 250, pl. 229, an example published in Gu taoci ziliao xuancui, vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, no. 143, and a pair formerly in the Au Bak Ling Collection and sold in The Au Bak Ling Collection Volume II; Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 October 2025, lot 955.
The design, palette and form of this meiping are all inspired by early Ming-dynasty elements. The Yongzheng emperor was a known antiquarian and the designs and forms of pieces from this period are often inspired by earlier dynasties. Doucai decoration, for example, was first found in the Xuande period, but was utilized and perfected in the Chenghua period (1465-1487) and Chenghua-period doucai vessels with floral motifs have been highly prized throughout Chinese art history. A Chenghua-marked stem cup in the collection of the British Museum is decorated with circular groupings of lotus flowers between scroll designs at the rim, and is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Early Ming Porcelains in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 167, no. 6:11. Another Chenghua-marked bowl is decorated with groupings of chrysanthemum between scrolling vines that curl between the empty space in the medallions, a similar concept to the design on the present meiping (see Palace Museum ed., Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty II, Beijing, 2016, pp. 370-71, no. 155). While the combination of floral groupings and scroll designs in these Chenghua-period doucai vessels may have served as an inspiration for the design on the present vessel, the lotus bouquet design on the present vessel is a Yongzheng-period innovation.
The current meiping is among the finest examples of Yongzheng-period porcelain, showcasing the sophisticated elegance and innovative design characteristic of the finest pieces produced in the imperial kiln at this time.