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Lot Essay
The imagery of the paired egrets, like that of other paired birds, is symbolic of marital harmony or fidelity; while the lotus, one of the flowers of the four seasons, represents Summer.
This bottle is one of the finest examples of the classic Guyue Xuan carved-relief type. After the initial period of development of the Guyue Xuan style from the classic Qianlong Palace workshops style, there followed a period of crisp, confident and technically excellent wares of two main types: enamelling on the flat surface of a bottle, and, as represented by the present lot, enameling added to enhance and complete a partial relief design. The carved group most probably evolved from the earlier group with only enameled decoration. This evolution occurred between 1767 and 1799. Another common feature of top-quality relief Guyue Xuan works is that they have mostly dispensed with neck borders, allowing for more obvious incorporation of white space into the design. By discarding with the borders and panels around the main subjects, the design became all the more powerful.
Compare the present bottle with another from this group, sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, The J & J Collection, Part 1, 25 April 2004, lot 820, where it achieved a world auction record.
This bottle is one of the finest examples of the classic Guyue Xuan carved-relief type. After the initial period of development of the Guyue Xuan style from the classic Qianlong Palace workshops style, there followed a period of crisp, confident and technically excellent wares of two main types: enamelling on the flat surface of a bottle, and, as represented by the present lot, enameling added to enhance and complete a partial relief design. The carved group most probably evolved from the earlier group with only enameled decoration. This evolution occurred between 1767 and 1799. Another common feature of top-quality relief Guyue Xuan works is that they have mostly dispensed with neck borders, allowing for more obvious incorporation of white space into the design. By discarding with the borders and panels around the main subjects, the design became all the more powerful.
Compare the present bottle with another from this group, sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, The J & J Collection, Part 1, 25 April 2004, lot 820, where it achieved a world auction record.