A MONUMENTAL GILT FAMILLE ROSE ‘LADIES OF THE HAN PALACE’ VASE, LATE QIANLONG - EARLY JIAQING
China, 1780-1820. The baluster sides rising from a short spreading foot to a waisted neck flanked by a pair of imitation-cloisonné chilong-form handles to flared mouth. The body vibrantly painted in bright enamels with gilt highlights to depict a lively scene of elegantly dressed ladies on a palace terrace indulging in leisurely pursuits, set against a monumental landscape with gnarled pines, towering mountains, and swirling clouds. Each side with a central dancer surrounded by musicians playing string, flute, and percussion instruments, with further ladies holding lanterns and jade chimes, carrying scrolls and auspicious fruits, or simply looking on.


Provenance
: Mme Safia Sassi, Paris, France. Formerly in a noted French private collection, by repute acquired from the above. A private collector in Austria, acquired from the above via the London trade.

Condition
: Natural wear, mostly to gilt. Expected manufacturing irregularities, including a circumferential firing crack around the foot. Minuscule chips and shallow surface scratches. One handle with a small section re-attached. Displaying exceptionally well!

Weight: 12,812 kg
Dimensions: Height 64.5 cm


The scenes
painted to the body are framed by lime-green and pink-ground bands of ruyi-heads dotted with floral designs. The shoulder with a band of floral scroll below plantain leaves enclosing stylized flowerheads. The neck painted to each side with a bat above a stylized shou character and linked cash-coins suspended from a beaded tassel, surrounded by lotus blossoms borne on leafy scrolling vines, all against a lime-green ground. The mouth with a turquoise-ground band of ruyi-heads below the gilt rim.


The foot
with a band of key-fret below lotus scroll. The interior glazed turquoise, while the base is left unglazed, revealing the white ware, which has a remarkably unctuous, silky feel overall.


This fine and meticulously painted depiction of ladies
is reminiscent of a scroll painting, with the colorful decorations around the mouth, neck, and foot serving as the mounting. The scene depicts ladies of the Han Palace, a subject that rose in popularity in the mid-Qing dynasty when the Han dynasty became a subject of nostalgia. Elegant and beautifully dressed women occupy a romanticized world, engaged in exemplary behavior such as modesty and encouraging the transmission of culture as seen on this vase where they play music and dance. This theme also reflects the antiquarian interest characteristic of the Qing period.


Literature comparison:

Compare a Qianlong-marked lantern vase from the Qing court collection, now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, similarly painted with ladies playing music surrounding a central dancer in an elaborate robe, no. Gu Ci 007371. It is suggested that the figures are modeled after the ladies in the painting Court Version of ‘Spring Dawn in the Han Palace’, completed by Sun Hu, Zhou Kun, and Ding Guanpeng in the 6th year of the Qianlong period (1741), included in the exhibition The All Complete Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2013, cat. no. II-3.54, after the famous and much-copied handscroll Spring Morning in the Han Palace by Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552), in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Near identical
Auction: Christie’s London, 3 November 2020, lot 182
Price: GBP 100,000 or approx.
EUR 149,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large famille rose lime-green-ground ‘Hundred Boys’ vase
Expert remark: Note the slightly larger size (73 cm).




乾隆末期至嘉慶朝初年粉彩描金《漢宮春曉》瓶

中國, 1780-1820年。侈口，長頸，折肩，鼓腹，圈足。瓶身圈足內六字篆書款“大清乾隆年製”。頸部兩側一對螭龍耳。器身以明亮的琺瑯彩繪，並鎏金點綴，描繪出宮廷露台上衣著優雅的仕女們悠閒自得的熱鬧景象，映襯著蒼松聳立、雲霧繚繞的壯麗景觀。腹部粉彩描繪《漢宮春曉》圖，再現了漢代宮女的生活情景，林木、奇石與華麗的宮闕穿插掩映，鋪陳出宛如仙境般的瑰麗景象，兩側各有一名中央舞者，周圍有彈奏弦樂、笛子、打擊樂器的樂師，還有手持燈籠、玉磬、手持經卷、吉祥果的女子，或只是旁觀。


來源：
法國巴黎Mme Safia Sassi收藏；法國知名私人收藏，據説購於上述收藏；奧地利私人收藏通過倫敦古玩交易從上述收藏購得。

品相：
自然磨損，大多為鎏金部分。製造不規則，包括腳部周圍的燒製裂紋，微小的缺口和淺的表面劃痕。一耳局部重新連接。

重量：12,812 公斤
尺寸：高 64.5 厘米


花瓶頸部檸檬綠色釉地
，粉彩纏枝蓮紋與蝙蝠、壽字紋以及一串錢幣；口部一下是一圈如意紋，折肩上爲芭蕉葉紋，折肩以下為一圈如意紋。足部一圈檸檬綠色地纏枝蓮花與雷紋一圈。瓶內施綠松石色釉，底座未施釉，露出白色瓷胎。整體釉色盈潤。


文獻比較：

比較一件的清乾隆粉彩十二金釵樂舞圖燈籠瓶 ，來自清宮收藏，收藏於台北故宮博物館，編號Gu Ci 007371。推測人物造型仿照宮廷版《漢宮春曉》中的仕女，由Sun Hu、Zhou Kun和Ding Guanpeng於乾隆六年 (1741年)，展覽於《The All Complete Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong》，台北故宮博物館，2013年，圖錄編號II-3.54，仿仇英（約 1494-1552 年）著名《漢宮春曉》，現藏台北故宮博物院。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：倫敦佳士得，2020年11月3日，lot 182
價格：GBP 100,000（相當於今日
EUR 149,000
）
描述：清綠地粉彩百子嬰戲圖螭龍耳瓶
專家評論：請注意尺寸較大 (73 釐米)。