YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

It is extremely rare to find Yongzheng period blue and white vases decorated with peaches as main motif. Compare to an almost identical covered vase of this size and pattern in the Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in The Palace Museum’s Collection of Blue and White Porcelains from Yongzheng Period of Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2017, no. 188 (fig.1). It is more common to find Yongzheng cylindrical vase decorated with sprays of fruit and flowers, see one decorated with floral scrolls, sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2012, lot 278.

This vase is reputedly from Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum collection, and thence by descent through the family. And it appears to be that the current vase was documented in the inventory of Field Marshal, The Right Honourable Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, K.G., deceased, The Collections of China, Eastern Arms and Armour, Decorative Objects, Furniture, Pictures, and Egyptian and other Antiquities, & c., Chirstie, Manson & Woods, December 1916, p.42, no 466 (fig.2)