ArtHitParade
ArtHitParade on X
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Calendar
  • Top 10
    • Origin
    • From 600 BCE to CE
    • Years 1 to 1000
    • Years 1000 to 1400
    • 15th Century >
      • Years 1400-1429
      • Years 1430-1459
      • Years 1460-1479
      • Years 1480-1499
    • 16th Century >
      • Years 1500-1519
      • Decade 1520-1529
      • Decade 1530-1539
      • Years 1540-1569
      • Years 1570-1599
    • 17th Century >
      • Decade 1600-1609
      • Decade 1610-1619
      • Decade 1620-1629
      • Decade 1630-1639
      • Decade 1640-1649
      • Decade 1650-1659
      • Years 1660-1679
      • Years 1680-1699
    • 18th Century >
      • Decade 1700-1709
      • Decade 1710-1719
      • Decade 1720-1729
      • Decade 1730-1739
      • Decade 1740-1749
      • Decade 1750-1759
      • Decade 1760-1769
      • Decade 1770-1779 >
        • 1776
      • Decade 1780-1789 >
        • 1787
      • Decade 1790-1799 >
        • 1792
    • 19th Century >
      • Decade 1800-1809
      • Decade 1810-1819
      • Decade 1820-1829
      • Decade 1830-1839
      • Decade 1840-1849
      • Decade 1850-1859
      • Decade 1860-1869
      • Decade 1870-1879 >
        • 1877
        • 1878
        • 1879
      • Decade 1880-1889 >
        • 1880
        • 1881
        • 1882
        • 1885
        • 1887
        • 1888
        • 1889
      • Decade 1890-1899 >
        • 1890
        • 1891
        • 1892
        • 1895
        • 1896
    • 20th Century >
      • Decade 1900-1909 >
        • 1901
        • 1902
        • 1903
        • 1904
        • 1905
        • 1907
        • 1908
        • 1909
      • Decade 1910-1919 >
        • 1910
        • 1911
        • 1912
        • 1913
        • 1914
        • 1915
        • 1916
        • 1917
        • 1918
        • 1919
      • Decade 1920-1929 >
        • 1920
        • 1921
        • 1922
        • 1923
        • 1924
        • 1925
        • 1926
        • 1927
        • 1928
        • 1929
      • Decade 1930-1939 >
        • 1930
        • 1931
        • 1932
        • 1933
        • 1934
        • 1935
        • 1936
        • 1937
        • 1938
        • 1939
      • Decade 1940-1949 >
        • 1941
        • 1942
        • 1943
        • 1945
        • 1946
        • 1947
        • 1948
        • 1949
      • Decade 1950-1959 >
        • 1950
        • 1951
        • 1952
        • 1953
        • 1954
        • 1955
        • 1956
        • 1957
        • 1958
        • 1959
      • Decade 1960-1969 >
        • 1960
        • 1961
        • 1962
        • 1963
        • 1964
        • 1965
        • 1966
        • 1967
        • 1968
        • 1969
      • Decade 1970-1979 >
        • 1970
        • 1971
        • 1972
        • 1973
        • 1974
        • 1975
        • 1976
        • 1977
        • 1978
        • 1979
      • Decade 1980-1989 >
        • 1980
        • 1981
        • 1982
        • 1983
        • 1984
        • 1985
        • 1986
        • 1987
        • 1988
        • 1989
      • Decade 1990-1999 >
        • 1990
        • 1991
        • 1992
        • 1993
        • 1994
        • 1995
        • 1996
        • 1997
        • 1998
        • 1999
    • 21st Century >
      • Decade 2000-2009 >
        • 2000
        • 2001
        • 2002
        • 2003
        • 2004
        • 2005
        • 2006
        • 2007
        • 2008
        • 2009
      • Decade 2010-2019 >
        • 2010
        • 2011
        • 2012
        • 2013
        • 2014
        • 2015
        • 2017
        • 2018
      • 2020 to now >
        • 2021
        • 2022
  • Ancient Painting
    • Flemish Art >
      • Pieter II Brueghel
      • Jan Brueghel
    • Rubens
    • Rembrandt
    • Early Still Life
    • Oil on Copper
  • 18th Century Painting
  • Ancient Drawing
  • Art on Paper
  • Sculpture
    • Bust
    • Ancient Sculpture >
      • Roman Sculpture
    • Italian Sculpture
    • French Sculpture >
      • Rodin
    • Sculpture by Painters
  • Women Artists
    • Ancient Art by Women
    • O'Keeffe
    • Lempicka
    • Martin
    • Mitchell
    • Yayoi Kusama
    • Brown
  • Furniture
    • Chairs and Seats
    • Colonial Furniture
    • Ancient French Furniture
    • Modern Furniture >
      • Art Deco
      • Modern Tables
  • Prints
    • Ancient Prints
    • Modern Prints
  • Photo
    • Old Photos >
      • Travel Photos
      • Early French Photo
    • Photos 1900s 1910s
    • Photos 1920s 1930s
    • Photos 1970s 1980s
    • Sherman
    • Gursky
  • The Man
  • The Woman
  • Children
  • Man and Woman
  • Groups
  • Self Portrait
    • Self Portrait 2nd page
  • Nude
  • Abstract Art - 2nd page
  • Landscape
    • Alps
  • Cities
    • Venice
    • Paris
  • Flowers
    • Bouquet
  • Animals
    • Bird
    • Cats and Lions
    • Horse
  • Tabletop
  • Music and Dance in Art
    • Music in Old Painting
  • Sport in Art
  • Orientalism
    • Orientalism 1830-1900
  • France
    • French Painting before 1860
    • Manet
    • Degas
    • Cézanne
    • Monet >
      • Monet before 1878
      • From Vétheuil to Giverny
      • London and Venice
      • Bassin aux Nymphéas
    • Renoir
    • Caillebotte
    • Gauguin
    • Seurat
    • Signac
    • Lautrec
    • Matisse
    • Léger
    • Klein
    • Lalanne
    • Post War French Art
  • Italy
    • Canaletto
    • Modigliani
    • Fontana
    • Mappa by Boetti
  • Swiss Painting
  • Giacometti
    • Giacometti 1947-53
    • Femme Debout
  • Bacon
    • Bacon before 1963
    • Bacon 1963-70
    • Later Bacons
    • Head Triptych
  • UK - 2nd page
    • Ancient England
    • George III
    • British Royals
    • Turner >
      • Watercolor by Turner
    • Freud >
      • Early Freud
    • Hockney
    • Doig
    • Hirst
    • Banksy
  • Richter
    • Richter before 1983
  • Germany - 2nd page
    • Ancient Germany >
      • Cranach
    • Marc
  • Van Gogh
  • Mondrian
  • De Kooning
  • Magritte
    • Early Magritte
  • Belgium 2nd page
  • Ancient Spain
  • Picasso
    • Picasso before 1907
    • Picasso 1907-1931
    • Marie-Thérèse
    • Picasso later 1930s
    • Picasso 1940-1960
    • Picasso in Mougins
    • Prints by Picasso
  • Gris
  • Miro
  • Klimt
  • Schiele
  • USA
    • US Independence
    • Development of USA
    • US Civil War
    • Wild West
    • US Painting before 1940 >
      • Sargent
    • Hopper
    • Rockwell
    • Calder
    • Rothko >
      • Early Rothko
      • Rothko 1957-70
    • Still
    • Guston
    • Pollock
    • Diebenkorn
    • Lichtenstein >
      • Lichtenstein after 1965
    • Warhol >
      • USA by Warhol
      • Celebrities by Warhol >
        • Elvis and Liz
      • Later Warhols
      • Prints by Warhol >
        • Warhol Prints 2nd page
    • Twombly
    • Johns
    • Ruscha
    • Koons
    • Marshall
    • Wool
    • Basquiat
    • Bradford
  • Central and South Americas
    • Mexico
  • China
    • Ritual Bronzes
    • Song
    • Yuan
    • Ming
    • Early Qing
    • Qianlong
    • Modern China >
      • Qi Baishi
      • Zhang Daqian >
        • Zhang Daqian before 1965
      • Fu Baoshi
      • Sanyu >
        • Sanyu before 1950
      • Li Keran
      • Wu Guanzhong
      • Zao Wou-Ki
      • Cui Ruzhuo
    • Chinese Porcelain >
      • Song to Yuan Porcelain
      • Ming Porcelain
      • Qing Porcelain
    • Chinese Art
    • Mountains in China
    • Chinese Calligraphy
    • Chinese Furniture
    • Imperial Seal
    • Chinese Dragon
    • Jadeite
  • India
    • Gaitonde
    • Modern India
  • Persia
    • Safavid Carpets
  • Yoshitomo Nara
  • Russia and Eastern Europe
    • Russia 1700-1900
    • Kandinsky
    • Brancusi
    • Chagall
    • Soutine
    • Ghenie
  • Northern Europe
    • Prints by Munch
  • Egypt
  • Tropical Africa
    • Congo
    • Gabon
    • Mask
  • Tribal Oceania
    • Easter Island
  • Australia
    • Colonial Australia
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
    • Early Buddhist Sculpture
    • Tibet and Nepal
  • Judaica
  • Christianity
    • Madonna and Child
  • Cars
    • Birth of Automobile
    • Cars of the 1910s
    • Cars of the 1920s
    • Cars of the 1930s >
      • Cars 1930-33
      • Cars 1934-35
      • Cars 1936-37
      • Cars 1938-39
    • Post War Cars
    • Cars of the 1950s >
      • Cars 1953-54
      • Cars 1955
      • Cars 1956-57
      • Cars 1958-59
    • Cars of the 1960s >
      • Cars 1960-61
      • Cars 1962-63
      • Cars 1964-65
      • Cars 1966-67
    • Cars 1970s 1980s
    • Supercars
    • Hypercars
    • Ferrari >
      • California Spider
      • Big Five
    • Alfa Romeo
    • Mercedes-Benz
    • Porsche
    • Aston Martin
    • Jaguar
    • McLaren
    • Bugatti
    • French Cars
    • Duesenberg
    • Ford and Shelby
    • Cars in Movies
  • Motorcycles
  • Jewels
    • White Diamond
    • Pink Diamond
    • Blue Diamond
    • Jewels - 2nd page
    • Cartier
  • Silverware
    • Old Silverware
  • Coin
    • Antique Coins >
      • Roman Coins
    • Coins 1000-1775
    • Coins 1776-92
    • Coins 1793-1819
    • Coins 1820-49
    • Coins 1850-69
    • Coins 1870-99
    • 20th century Coins
    • US Gold Coins
    • Silver Dollar
    • Cent and Dime
    • British Coins
    • Japanese Coins
    • Chinese Coins
  • Paper Currency
  • Medal and Decoration
  • Time Pieces
    • Clocks >
      • Old Clocks
    • Mechanical Craft ca 1800
    • Jaquet-Droz and Followers
    • Modern Watches
    • New Watches >
      • OnlyWatch
    • Patek Philippe >
      • Patek Philippe before 1950
      • World Time
      • Perpetual Calendar
    • Rolex
    • French Time Pieces
    • Daniels
  • Glass and Crystal
    • Glass before 1900
    • Tiffany Studios
  • Terracotta and Porcelain
    • Meissen
  • Textiles
  • Books
    • Incunabula
    • 16th Century Books
    • 17th Century Books
    • Fine Books 1700-1850
    • The Birds of America
  • Literature
    • Literature in French
  • Poems and Lyrics
  • Autograph
  • Manuscript
    • Paleography
    • Illuminated Christian Manuscript
  • Political Writing
  • Comic Books
  • Illustration Art
    • Tintin
  • Travel
  • Ancient Maps
  • Space
  • Movies
  • Screen Worn
  • Music
  • Musical Instrument
    • Stradivarius
    • Violin 2nd page
    • Guitar
    • Chinese Instrument
  • The Beatles
  • Poster
  • Sport
    • Sport Equipment
    • Sport Document
    • Sport Rewards and Medals
    • Sport Cards >
      • Sport Images before 1942
      • T206 Wagner
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Sport Cards 1942-92
      • Topps Mantle
      • Modern Sport Cards
    • Baseball >
      • Baseball Bat
      • Baseball Jersey
      • Babe Ruth
      • Lou Gehrig
    • Basketball >
      • Jordan
    • Ice Hockey
    • Sport 2nd page
  • Olympic Games
  • Origins of Sports
  • Historical Arms
    • Blade and Armour
    • Colt in Lifetime
    • Later Colts
    • Winchester
    • Firearms
  • Toys
  • Doll
  • Games
  • Stamps
    • US Stamps
    • Inverted Jenny
  • Inventions
  • Leica
  • Sciences
    • Ancient Science
    • Sciences 1600-1800
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Medicine
  • Dinosaur
  • Computing
  • Nobel Medals
    • Nobel in Medicine
  • Whisky
    • Whisky 2nd page
  • Wine
  • Plus
    • Plus 17C Art
    • Plus 18C Art
    • Plus 1910s
    • Plus 1982 Basquiat
    • Plus Ferrari
    • Plus US Cars
    • Plus Qing Porcelain
    • Plus Tribal
  • Work in Progress

Plus Qing Porcelain

The lots below do not currently have a position in a thematic page.
​Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.

YONGZHENG

1
​1731 pair of Peach Bowls
2015 SOLD for HK$ 90M by Sotheby's

Chinese porcelain is experiencing a restart of its development during the Kangxi period with the use of enamel painting. Multicolored pieces were already spectacular under the Ming but the new technique named falangcai enables to replace pure colors by exquisite shades highly appealing to Chinese taste.

The appointment by the Yongzheng emperor in the sixth year of his reign of Tang Ying as superintendent of the workshops of Jingdezhen is one of the most outstanding events in art history, paving the way for a total diversification of Chinese porcelain in terms of shapes, themes, colors, sizes, either imitating the antique or bringing some wonderful innovation.

The palette of colors becomes complete with the control of pink, happening around that time. ​The fencai meaning powdery colors applies to the Imperial yangcai porcelains decorated in opaque enamels. Its latest achievement was the mastery of the pink. The yangcai, often referred as famille rose, invites the artists to express all the delicate shades of peach blossoms, a symbol of happy longevity, and to improve the velvety look of the ripe fruit.

The Yongzheng emperor loved the symbols of immortality and happiness such as the peach, which provided also a great opportunity to use the brightest fencai palette in the fruits, flowers, leaves and branches. The peach is a great excuse to use all the hues of the fencai palette in the fruits, flowers, leaves and branches.


The figure of the peach is standardized in the ninth year of his reign, 1731 CE, when the emperor commissions a series of peach bowls in pairs as symbols of the Eternal Peace. 

The original pairs were often separated but the production is so homogeneous that a collector was able to constitute a new pair, sold for HK $ 90M from a lower estimate of HK $ 40M by Sotheby's on April 7, 2015, lot 112.

Each piece 13 cm in diameter is decorated with auspicious symbols. This pair with the mark of Yongzheng was probably made for the celebration of a birthday of the emperor himself. The six peaches and five bats on each bowl bring the most pleasant greetings to the emperor.


The branch with fruit, leaves and two shades of flowers begins at the base and extends over the entire inner surface without being interrupted through the rim of the bowl, offering a full size picture whatever the angle at which the piece is held.

This sensational feature meets a specific theme request by the emperor, recorded on the registers of the imperial workshops on the 19th day of the 4th month of the ninth year of Yongzheng, 1731 in our calendar. The long branch is named changzhi which is homophonic to the other meaning of Eternal Governance.

Only five other pairs of Yongzheng yangcai changzhi bowls and a single bowl are recorded. Two of the five pairs are separated.

#AuctionUpdate: Top prices for Chinese Works Of Art continue with two HK$89.8m/US$11.6m Famille-Rose 'Peach' Bowls pic.twitter.com/dKTQyI6v78

— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 7, 2015

2
​​1732 Shuimo Bowl
​2015 SOLD for HK$ 85M by Christie's

At the end of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the introduction of enamel in the techniques of Chinese porcelain pleasantly increases the color palette. The imperial chemists continue developing this falangcai during the reign of his successor the Yongzheng Emperor.

The new emperor is highly demanding in terms of refinement. The best pieces are exclusively executed for his personal use after a severe selection.

The greatest achievement of the porcelain according to the taste of the Yongzheng Emperor is the shuimo falangcai. The enamel is deposited like an ink wash. This new technique provides the same quality of drawing than on paper, plus the brightness of the porcelain.

The shuimo enables to copy the traditional themes of the Song period. When in addition a calligraphed poem is evoking the pleasure of fragrance, art becomes so perfect that only the emperor himself is worthy to deserve it.

The shuimo can offer a very small contrast between the pure pale color of the prunus blossom and the perfect white of the porcelain. This ultimate achievement of the falangcai is developed during the ninth year of Yongzheng and is also identified as sepia enamels. On the fourth month of the tenth year, 1732 CE, the excellence of the shuimo falangcai is recognized by an imperial decree.

Pieces in shuimo falangcai are extremely rare. On December 2, 2015, Christie's sold for HK $ 85M a bowl 10 cm in diameter, lot 2888. It is decorated with branches and blossoms of prunus along with bamboos. Both symbolize winter that anticipates the expectations of spring : the blossom of the prunus hatches before the arrival of the leaf and bamboo is unchanged throughout the seasons.

The decoration is complemented by a poem in an antique style of calligraphy that appealed to the emperor and by three enameled seal marks. The bowl carries on its base the imperial four-character mark of the Yongzheng Emperor.

Christie’s Hong Kong Sales Cycle = HK$ 2.6bn (US$ 340.6m) https://t.co/SaVEjVV1c4 pic.twitter.com/TLj4atsOVa

— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) December 2, 2015

QIANLONG

1
​1739 Dragon Celadon Meiping
​2022 SOLD for HK$ 81M by Christie's

The use of celadon glaze imitating the color and transparency of jade was developed in the Ru kilns of the Song when porcelain was already superseding jade for a safe keeping of the liquids to drink.

Celadon is restarted in various shades by the chemists and coupled with high relief decoration in the Yongzheng period through the efforts managed by Tang Ying to mingle ancient and present techniques. An amphora in the fashion of the Tang dynasty was sold for HK $ 140M by Christie's in 2017.

A celadon jar 34 cm high with the imperial mark of Qianlong was sold for HK $ 94M by Sotheby's in 2014. The deep carving features two imperial dragons, one protecting the other like a teacher with pupil, certainly representing Yongzheng and his son Honli, the future Qianlong. The piece had possibly been prepared at the end of Yongzheng's lifetime.

A meiping 33 cm high with the imperial mark of Qianlong uses the same techniques with an even pale sea green celadon glaze. The translucent glaze pools in the recesses of the carving, creating a contrast that heightens the image. 

It features three dragons amidst the clouds. The dominating figure is a front face three claw non imperial dragon busy to teach wisdom to the two smaller five claw imperial dragons, meaning that outstanding teachers are not limited to the imperial family. Qianlong's second son of the first rank was born in 1739 CE, which could constitute a terminus post quem for the celebrating meiping. The terminus ante quem would be 1744 CE when the top skills of the Jingdezhen workmen ceased to be solicited.

This piece was sold for HK $ 81M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Christie's on November 29, 2022, lot 2994. It is also narrated in the article prepared by the auction house.

​Made in the same designs and techniques as the example above, a 35 cm high meiping with the Qianlong mark is featuring five dragons amid waves. The soft bluish green celadon increases the effect of the crisp carving through the pooling of the glaze on the recesses, as in the other example. This piece in a pristine brilliant and lustrous condition was sold for HK $ 48M by Sotheby's on October 9, 2023, lot 3612.

The dominating three claw dragon is portrayed sinuous and vertical. The other four are imperial, in pairs with one slightly subordinate. The diving teaching dragon holds the sacred pearl in its mouth for transferring its wisdom to one of the pupils.

2
​1742 Longquan Vase
2020 SOLD for HK$ 70M by Sotheby's

The double porcelain vase was developed in Longquan kilns 400 to 350 years before Qianlong, in the transition between Yuan and Ming dynasties. The celadon exterior vase is pierced all around to provide visibility onto the inner vase. The potters of Longquan undoubtedly wished to produce prestige pieces for competing with the growing influence of Jingdezhen.

Tang Ying manages to reproduce this double vase which will be identified as a Longquan vase in the imperial archives. The earliest reference for a Qianlong Longquan vase is the presentation of a piece to the emperor by a eunuch for the use of the very prestigious hall of audiences and banquets in the palace. This event happened in the twelfth day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Qianlong, in 1742 CE.

Only one known piece is matching the archives description of this first referred vase. The vase 31.4 cm high overall is pear shaped, surmounted by a neck with two dragon shaped gilt handles. A collar is hanging below the rim. It is made in a sgraffiato incised yangcai except the reticulated part which is celadon. The inner vase is an underglaze blue on white in Xuande style of peaches and florets. The window is intricately carved throughout the perimeter of the lower body.

This vase was sold for £ 44 by Sotheby's in 1954. It has just been rediscovered in a European country house where it had never caught the attention of countless generations of wandering cats and dogs. It was sold for HK $ 70M by Sotheby's on July 11, 2020, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

In 1743 CE, Tang Ying announced in an official report the extremely low yield of the Longquan vases, with a successful production of only nine singles. The emperor agreed to stop this style while suggesting to make a second vase for creating pairs. The vase for the audience hall, which had the most complex shape, was certainly the very first, made before Tang Ying could estimate the technical difficulties. Its pair was probably not made.

3
​1743 Boys Vase
2015 SOLD for HK$ 64M by Sotheby's

All the available techniques were used to produce the finest vases that may please the Qianlong emperor. When they were mixed, the artist still kept the goal of providing a perfect piece for sight and touch.

On April 7, 2015, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 64M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M a boys vase, lot 3616. This piece 44 cm high is by itself an anthology of Qing porcelains, with the exception that it is not reticulated.

The shape is complex but perfectly balanced with its ovoid body between a neck and a base each made in four curved panels separated by sharp corners.

The neck and base are finished with a sea green celadon glaze that is one of the most exquisite colors in Chinese taste and one of the most difficult glazes to obtain. The celadon pieces were welcomed as a support for high or low relief carvings that remind to the modern observer that the pleasure of touch is a characteristic of the best Chinese porcelains.

The ovoid body is covered in underglazed cobalt blue with vegetal patterns, over which were inserted four large pictures in the famille rose enamels which were the best palette of Chinese porcelains. Gilding is also widely used, for the imperial mark under the base, for framing the images and for the two dragon handles.

The pictures are on the theme of young boys at play. Although the vase can not be dated, note that Qianlong emperor had promoted during the eighth year of his reign, 1743 CE, a variety of narrative themes for use during the festivals, thus breaking with a tradition that had been essentially decorative after the Yuan.

4
​​Four Seasons Bottle Vase
2010 SOLD for HK$ 140M by Sotheby's

The ancient Chinese art is a continuum, each new work referencing to past shapes and techniques that can go back to antiquity.

Thus, a pair of enameled porcelain bottle vases 19 cm high made in the Imperial workshops and bearing the mark of Qianlong is an example of extreme refinement with a harmonious synthesis of styles.

The spherical body of each piece is decorated with four medallions showing the flowers of the four seasons, in a festival of colors that imitates the supreme Chinese art of the Beijing enamel glass.

The background of the sphere and the tall arched neck display traditional and Western influences by imitating the themes of enameled copper.

The two vases are illustrated with the same flowers under slightly different arrangements. They were listed separately at Sotheby's on October 7, 2010. One of them was sold for HK $ 140M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 2123. The other, hampered by a long crack, was sold for HK $ 32M, lot 2124.

5
​pair of Double Gourd Vases
​2012 SOLD for HK$ 107M by Sotheby's

Promoter of all artistic techniques, the Qianlong emperor had however his preferences both from his personal taste and by the commitment to respect traditions and etiquette.

Yangcai means foreign colors. This technique enables to apply on the porcelains the full range of colors of the European enamels. Named famille-rose in the West, it was considered by the emperor as the way to create the best porcelain of all time, beyond the Ru and Guan of the Song.

The Chinese imperial court favors all kinds of symbols and the bright yellow is assigned to the person of the emperor, perhaps referring to the sun. Early in his reign, Qianlong requests some yangcai porcelain wares with yellow ground.

Limited to a space reserved for the emperor in the imperial palace, these prestigious yellow porcelains are not available for export. Their shapes are varied according to the usual practice in Jingdezhen workshops.

In the best traditions of the court, they are decorated with many symbols using all the colors in the yangcai palette and difficult to translate to the foreign observer because these puns are based on homophony. Many auspices are gathered on a same piece when it is intended as a birthday gift to the Emperor, unfortunately undated.

On October 9, 2012, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 107M from a lower estimate of HK $ 40M a sumptuous pair of double gourd vases 18 cm high in saturated colors.

By its monumental size 75 cm high, a yangcai vase on yellow ground is considered as a technical feat unique of its kind. Its dense decoration in harmonious colors is mainly floral, with vegetal arabesques interspersed with many other figurative motifs. It was sold for HK $ 51M by Sotheby's on April 7, 2015, lot 3608. ​

6
​Dragon Gourd Vase
​2009 SOLD for RMB 83M by Hanhai

A Qianlong gourd vase with ruyi ears was sold for RMB 83M by Hanhai in November 2009. It is decorated with red dragons over blue and white.

7
​Peach Tianqiuping
​​2011 SOLD for HK$ 90M by Sotheby's

Under the Qing, the improved contact with the West gave the idea to increase the range of colors, applied in enamel on a pure white background. The bottle vase is perfect for creating asymmetric rotating scenes of unparalleled sophistication, maybe even inimitable.

When the Qianlong emperor succeeded his father Yongzheng, the fencai had already reached its higher maturity but the diversity of the forms generated new masterpieces. The branches of the peach wrap around the tall neck of the tianqiuping, a pot-bellied vase whose name means celestial globe.


The colors of birds, fish, fruits, flowers, exacerbated the skill of Chinese artists and chemists. A vase with peaches 51 cm high bearing the mark of Qianlong was sold for HK $ 90M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2011, lot 15. Branches, blossoms and especially the nine fruits shown at different stages of ripeness are pretexts for exquisite color variations.

Another tianqiuping 55 cm high was sold for HK $ 63M by Sotheby's on October 7, 2015, 
lot 3610. The high popularity of this theme (now without bats) prevents to define a detailed date for both tianqiuping within the very long reign of Qianlong.

8
​1769 Hundred Deer and Several Cranes
​2018 SOLD for € 16.2M by Sotheby's

The theme of the hundred deer is a rebus bringing auspices, as often in Chinese art. One hundred does not express a real quantity but a multitude. One hundred deer evokes by homophony the success of a long career. The hair is of varied color except for one beast that is white for a homophony between one and one hundred.

Two hu shaped globular vases with the hundred deer, bearing the imperial mark of the Qianlong emperor, were sold by Christie's : for € 2M on December 14, 2011, and for € 4.15M on December 13, 2017.

On these two vases 45 cm high, fallow deer are distributed with quiet occupations in a landscape. The two pieces are in yangcai, the technology transferred to Jingdezhen from the falangcai of the foreigners that brought to Chinese porcelain its most sublime colors.

The too lush decor does not seem in the taste of the beginning of the reign but the production is certainly not too late. Jingdezhen was not motivated to maintain for long the difficult and expensive technology of the yangcai, reserved for rare special orders from the imperial court.

A 28 cm high pear shaped vase with a long neck surmounted by a bulb was brought by a customer to the Parisian office of Sotheby's, cleanly stored in a shoebox. It bears the imperial mark of Qianlong and offers beside the deers other auspices such as a double frieze of ruyi and a few cranes, birds whose white feathers are a symbol of old age and longevity.

This theme in this shape is extremely rare. The vase kept at the Musée Guimet also has ruyi but no crane. Such a rarity is not surprising within the extreme variety of the Qianlong porcelains. What makes the specimen brought to Sotheby's so exceptional is the splendid conservation of the yangcai enamels.

The imperial archives twice recorded this mixed theme in yangcai with ruyi, fallow deer and cranes, during the 30th and 34th years of the reign, 1765 and 1769 CE. In the video shared by Sotheby's their expert Nicolas Chow indicates the 34th year as its preferred date. This vase was sold for € 16.2 from a lower estimate of € 500K by Sotheby's on June 12, 2018, lot 1.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.