.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present remarkably large vase bears a hall mark on its base, noting it belonged to a special group of imperial porcelain commissioned to furnish the Shende tang (Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue). Completed in 1831, the hall became Emperor Daoguang’s preferred residence until his death there in 1850.
Porcelains bearing this mark are often decorated with brilliant enamels on rich grounds- a style inspired by silk-mounted paintings and pioneered during the Qianlong period- as vividly exemplified by the present vase. Its imposing dimension attests to the advanced skill of imperial kilns and the opulent aesthetic of the court.
The motif on the body of the vase combining three rams and a rising sun forms the rebus sanyang kaitai, symbolising 'Prosperity in Springtime'. It represents an auspicious change of fortune with the arrival of spring and the New Year, making it a theme closely associated with New Year celebrations.
As Professor Stacey Pierson notes, no fewer than thirty type of imperial Shende tang marked porcelains are extant in public and private collections, predominantly they are smaller vessels such as bowls, dishes and vases, see Stacey Pierson, Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics, London, 1998, p. 36. Vases of this considerable size, particularly those painted with the present motif, are exceptionally rare, and no other closely related example appears to have been published. Two comparable vases bearing Shende tang marks are preserved at the Palace Museum, Beijing: one is a famille rose pink-ground vase with dragon handles, decorated with ‘antiques’ as the main motif, collection no. xin00039287 (fig. 1); another is a famille rose vase painted with the same motif as the present vase, collection no. xin00096013 (fig. 2). Compare further to a much smaller vase decorated with the same motif with elephant handles, inscribed with a Daoguang mark and of the period, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 3025.
Porcelains bearing this mark are often decorated with brilliant enamels on rich grounds- a style inspired by silk-mounted paintings and pioneered during the Qianlong period- as vividly exemplified by the present vase. Its imposing dimension attests to the advanced skill of imperial kilns and the opulent aesthetic of the court.
The motif on the body of the vase combining three rams and a rising sun forms the rebus sanyang kaitai, symbolising 'Prosperity in Springtime'. It represents an auspicious change of fortune with the arrival of spring and the New Year, making it a theme closely associated with New Year celebrations.
As Professor Stacey Pierson notes, no fewer than thirty type of imperial Shende tang marked porcelains are extant in public and private collections, predominantly they are smaller vessels such as bowls, dishes and vases, see Stacey Pierson, Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics, London, 1998, p. 36. Vases of this considerable size, particularly those painted with the present motif, are exceptionally rare, and no other closely related example appears to have been published. Two comparable vases bearing Shende tang marks are preserved at the Palace Museum, Beijing: one is a famille rose pink-ground vase with dragon handles, decorated with ‘antiques’ as the main motif, collection no. xin00039287 (fig. 1); another is a famille rose vase painted with the same motif as the present vase, collection no. xin00096013 (fig. 2). Compare further to a much smaller vase decorated with the same motif with elephant handles, inscribed with a Daoguang mark and of the period, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 3025.