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Lot Essay
The robustly potted vase is supported on a splayed foot, rising to a waisted neck and flaring at the mouth, flanked on both sides with a mythical beast handle suspending a mock ring. Finely painted in rich blue tones, the body is decorated with large lotus blooms borne in an alternating double register with the upper row supporting the Eight Buddhist Emblems, each of the blooms further decorated in the central pod with a Chinese auspicious character shou. The lower part of the body is painted with upper petal panels, the neck is encircled by a band of quatrefoil motifs divided by flower sprays, all between bands of undulating waves.
The form of this vase, along with its moulded mask handles, is modelled on Han dynasty bronze prototypes, such as a bronze beast-handled hu illustrated in Ningshou jiangu, vol.9, no.18, reflecting the Qianlong emperor’s admiration for archaism (fig. 1).
Known in Chinese as bajixiang, the Eight Buddhist Emblems are an auspicious decorative motif rooted in Tibetan Buddhist art, symbolising good fortune and happiness. On porcelains, the motif appears as early as the Yuan dynasty, see a Longquan celadon stem bowl moulded with the Eight Buddhist Emblems preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: xin 00128145, and a Yuan white-glazed dish moulded with the same motif on the interior, collection numbers: xin 00134714. During the Ming dynasty, the emblems were combined with lotus scrolls, as on a Xuande blue and white bowl in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, no.44. During the Qianlong reign, as shown on the present vase, lotus blooms are painted with a shou character, expressing the emperor’s wish for longevity. Such a combination also appears on an altar vase with an inscription by Tang Ying housed in the Shanghai Museum, included in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no.124 (fig. 2).
A nearly identical Qianlong example is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: zhongci 000449N (fig. 3). Another, from Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, is preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number: 1937.937 (fig. 4). Compare also a Qianlong ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ vase with dragon handles, illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.322.
The form of this vase, along with its moulded mask handles, is modelled on Han dynasty bronze prototypes, such as a bronze beast-handled hu illustrated in Ningshou jiangu, vol.9, no.18, reflecting the Qianlong emperor’s admiration for archaism (fig. 1).
Known in Chinese as bajixiang, the Eight Buddhist Emblems are an auspicious decorative motif rooted in Tibetan Buddhist art, symbolising good fortune and happiness. On porcelains, the motif appears as early as the Yuan dynasty, see a Longquan celadon stem bowl moulded with the Eight Buddhist Emblems preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: xin 00128145, and a Yuan white-glazed dish moulded with the same motif on the interior, collection numbers: xin 00134714. During the Ming dynasty, the emblems were combined with lotus scrolls, as on a Xuande blue and white bowl in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, no.44. During the Qianlong reign, as shown on the present vase, lotus blooms are painted with a shou character, expressing the emperor’s wish for longevity. Such a combination also appears on an altar vase with an inscription by Tang Ying housed in the Shanghai Museum, included in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no.124 (fig. 2).
A nearly identical Qianlong example is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: zhongci 000449N (fig. 3). Another, from Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, is preserved in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number: 1937.937 (fig. 4). Compare also a Qianlong ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ vase with dragon handles, illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.322.