Baluster shape, colourfully and densely enamelled around the body with large lotus leaves and blossoms, in tones of green, yellow, purple, red and blue against a turquoise ground. All framed by a ruyi-head border above and with a lotus petal panel and the slightly spreading foot. Height 78 cm.
Wear, loss of enamel, retouches.
Provenance
From the collection of Alexandra (Kowalewska) & Nicolai Heidenreich. Thence by descent,
Exhibitions
Compare with a pair of vases of this type but smaller sold at Bonhams New Bond Street London, Fine Chinese Art, lot 121, 11 November 2010.
Compare also with a smaller vase sold at Bonhams New Bond Street London, lot 87, 7 November, 2013.
More information
The present vessel exemplifies the Qianlong period’s creative reinterpretation of antiquities. This refined synthesis of archaic form and imperial opulence reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s discerning connoisseurship and his enduring reverence for the classical past. His advocacy of fugu (“return to the ancient”) inspired court artisans to look to antiquity not merely for replication, but as a wellspring for innovation, melding the moral integrity and simplicity of ancient design with the grandeur and sophistication of the Qing aesthetic.
For condition report contact specialist
Others have also viewed
