QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

This magnificent vase, measuring 68 cm. high, is truly extraordinary in size and remarkably complex in construction. It is a testament to the consummate prowess of the Qianlong-period potters. The elaborately moulded ruyi-form handles, coupled with the carp-and-chime motifs on the neck and plain medallions on the body, reflect a confluence of both Chinese and Western artistic elements. The medallion was a decorative device often seen on European works of art, and increasingly applied onto porcelains made during the Qianlong period, possibly from the influence of Jesuit missionaries at the court. A typical Qianlong vase with medallion decorations would be the falangcai revolving vase with medallions enclosing landscape panels in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated on the museum website https://www.dpm.org.cn/collection/ceramic/227089.html. However, it is very rare to find a vase with plain, white panels like the current vase. The brown hues against the rich, sapphire-blue glaze on the body reserving plain white medallions, create a stark contrast of colours and palette combination often seen on European porcelains. Such unusual combination of colours, tactful melding of artistic elements, and impressively large size, make the current vase exceptionally rare and possibly even unique. No other example of similar design or construction appears to have been published. Aside from its rarity, the current vase also has illustrious provenance, having been published in the 1932 catalogue by the renowned Japanese dealer Yamanaka.