A RARE MOLDED AND GILT-DECORATED TURQUOISE-GROUND VASE, HU

QIANLONG MOLDED AND GILDED SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A RARE MOLDED AND GILT-DECORATED TURQUOISE-GROUND VASE, HU
QIANLONG MOLDED AND GILDED SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
Of flattened pear shape, relief-decorated with rows of stylized shou characters separated by a wide band of wan fret on the neck which is flankee by a pair of lion mask handles, all above a petal lappet border and between borders of wan fret at the mouth and encircling the foot, all highlighted in gilding in contrast to the bright turquoise enamel ground which also covers the interior and base
15 3/8 in. (38.5 cm.) high, box

Provenance

Christie's, Hong Kong, 30 October 2001, lot 836.

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Lot Essay

The decoration of a 'hundred shou' characters on the present vase suggests that it was likely made for a birthday celebration. The decoration is in imitation of champlevé enamel, a cross-media practice which J. Ayers, in The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1969, vol. IV, p. 12, describes as a 'striking phenomenon' during the Qianlong period. A nearly identical vase in the Yunnan Provincial Museum, gifted by the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in "A Selection of Porcelain from the Yunnan Provincial Museum Collection," Art & Collection, 2003:2, no. 125, p. 63. (Fig. 1)

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