Lot Essay
A strikingly similar minature vase from the J.M. Hu Zandelou Collection, with a young boy holding a spear behind an identical maiden dressed in blue and with a similar mark, is illustrated in the Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, 1990, Catalogue, no. 167
Another equally finely painted miniature vase of this type in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated by Beurdeley and Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Famille Verte, Famille Rose, no. 195 left. The Taipei example varies only in that the maiden wears her hair down and the child, dressed in pink, hands her a flower, not peaches. The authors write on p. 138 that the artists were inspired by the painting on French and English porcelains and that "these pieces, which come from what was once the Imperial Collection, have the characteristics of wares produced in the palace precincts: small proportions, beautiful, smooth surface glaze, flat enamels with no relief, and a four-character mark"
The second vase was included in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, 1993, Catalogue, no. 144. It is interesting to note that it has the mark within a double square. Other related vases with European subjects within arabesque panels reserved on a floral scroll ground were included as exhibition nos. 131, 135, 143 and 145, the marks are also illustrated, some within double squares, others not. An earlier exhibition in Taipei, Imperial Enamel Ware of the Qing Dynasty, Catalogue, 1979, also included the first vase, as no. 76. Related vases were included as exhibit nos. 70, 71, 74, 77 and 80
Another equally finely painted miniature vase of this type in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated by Beurdeley and Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Famille Verte, Famille Rose, no. 195 left. The Taipei example varies only in that the maiden wears her hair down and the child, dressed in pink, hands her a flower, not peaches. The authors write on p. 138 that the artists were inspired by the painting on French and English porcelains and that "these pieces, which come from what was once the Imperial Collection, have the characteristics of wares produced in the palace precincts: small proportions, beautiful, smooth surface glaze, flat enamels with no relief, and a four-character mark"
The second vase was included in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, 1993, Catalogue, no. 144. It is interesting to note that it has the mark within a double square. Other related vases with European subjects within arabesque panels reserved on a floral scroll ground were included as exhibition nos. 131, 135, 143 and 145, the marks are also illustrated, some within double squares, others not. An earlier exhibition in Taipei, Imperial Enamel Ware of the Qing Dynasty, Catalogue, 1979, also included the first vase, as no. 76. Related vases were included as exhibit nos. 70, 71, 74, 77 and 80