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Lot Essay
While many enamelled porcelain vessels with deep rouge pink as a background colour are known, there are very few with the delicate pale pink ground seen on the current flask. A late Kangxi bowl in the National Palace Museum has turquoise panels reserved against a pale pink ground (illustrated in Special Exhibition of Ch'ing dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1992, p. 42, no. 6. Another Kangxi yuzhi bowl with pale pink ground was exhibited in Hong Kong in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art - Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 1990, 344-5, no. 157. A Qianlong bowl with a design of scrolling flowers against an incised pale pink ground, with incised scrolling decoration like that on the current flask, is also in the National Palace Museum (Porcelain of the National Palace Museum, Fine-Enamelled Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty - Ch'ien-lung Period II, Cafa, Hong Kong, 1967, pp. 112-3, no. 35). A Qianlong teapot with pale pink scrolling ground surrounding panels containing delicately painted flowers and rocks is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (see Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong - Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Forbidden City Publishing House/Woods Publishing Co., Hong Kong, 1989, p. 365, no. 46). The teapot, however, has the scrolls on the pink ground painted in a slightly darker enamel, rather than being incised into the pink enamel as on the current flask.
The decorative combination of peonies and magnolia and peach blossom seen on this flask has been found on a number of fine 18th century enamelled porcelains. A large Yongzheng dish from the Qing Court Collection is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 39 Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Commerical Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 67, no. 57). A combination of peonies, lotus and peach blossom adorns the circular panels on either side of a Yongzheng moon flask decorated in doucai technique in the collection of the Shanghai Museum (illustrated Zhongguo taoci mingqi zhan - Shanghai bowuguan suozang, 1995, p. 87, no. 72). A virtually identical doucai moon flask bearing a Qianlong mark is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 38 Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 265, no. 243). Unlike the current flask, however, these two doucai examples have cylindrical necks. A pair of Qianlong moon flasks with archaistic dragon handles in the Matsuoka Museum of Art has a design of peonies and magnolia, somewhat reminiscent of the design on the current flask, on one side and an inscription on the other. These flasks, which are slightly larger than the current vessel, do not have bulb necks and have a dark ruby ground surrounding the reserved circular panels (see Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics from Matsuoka Museum of Art, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, 1997, p. 44, no. 35).
Flattened porcelain flasks with compressed bulb mouths and strap handles appear among Chinese porcelains of the early 15th century. An early 15th century blue and white example with Islamic inspired lattice decoration is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art (see R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, p. 39, no. 26), while another is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The form was revived in the 18th century, and in the case of a Yongzheng blue and white example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, the same lattice decoration was applied (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 113, no. 99). In other cases, like the underglaze red Qianlong flask in the Baur Collection, they were decorated with an adaptation of the early design (see J. Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva, Chinese Ceramics, vol. 4, Collections Baur, Genève, 1974, no. A535). On the current flask, however, a delicately enamelled, typically Qing, design has been applied in a manner that perfectly complements the form.
The decorative combination of peonies and magnolia and peach blossom seen on this flask has been found on a number of fine 18th century enamelled porcelains. A large Yongzheng dish from the Qing Court Collection is in the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 39 Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Commerical Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 67, no. 57). A combination of peonies, lotus and peach blossom adorns the circular panels on either side of a Yongzheng moon flask decorated in doucai technique in the collection of the Shanghai Museum (illustrated Zhongguo taoci mingqi zhan - Shanghai bowuguan suozang, 1995, p. 87, no. 72). A virtually identical doucai moon flask bearing a Qianlong mark is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 38 Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 265, no. 243). Unlike the current flask, however, these two doucai examples have cylindrical necks. A pair of Qianlong moon flasks with archaistic dragon handles in the Matsuoka Museum of Art has a design of peonies and magnolia, somewhat reminiscent of the design on the current flask, on one side and an inscription on the other. These flasks, which are slightly larger than the current vessel, do not have bulb necks and have a dark ruby ground surrounding the reserved circular panels (see Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics from Matsuoka Museum of Art, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, 1997, p. 44, no. 35).
Flattened porcelain flasks with compressed bulb mouths and strap handles appear among Chinese porcelains of the early 15th century. An early 15th century blue and white example with Islamic inspired lattice decoration is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art (see R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, p. 39, no. 26), while another is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The form was revived in the 18th century, and in the case of a Yongzheng blue and white example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, the same lattice decoration was applied (see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 36 - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 113, no. 99). In other cases, like the underglaze red Qianlong flask in the Baur Collection, they were decorated with an adaptation of the early design (see J. Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva, Chinese Ceramics, vol. 4, Collections Baur, Genève, 1974, no. A535). On the current flask, however, a delicately enamelled, typically Qing, design has been applied in a manner that perfectly complements the form.