CHINA, QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

The monumental size of these vases would have required great technical skill to pot and fire and made them costly to produce. Blue and white soldier vases are typically decorated with figurative and equestrian designs or with bands of stylised flowers such as seen on the pair of blue and white soldier vases sold at Christie's London, 29 November 2023, lot 8. It is more unusual to find examples such as this pair decorated with the auspicious design of pheasants and peonies, symbolic of wealth and good fortune. A pair of famille rose 'pheasant and peony' soldier vases of similar height from the early Qianlong period, c.1740, were sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2018, lot 417.