RARE GRAND VASE 'LOTUS' EN PORCELAINE BLEU BLANC MARQUE EN CACHET ET ÉPOQUE QIANLONG | 清乾隆 青花纏枝花卉海水紋折肩貫耳壼 《大清乾隆年製》款 | A rare large blue and white 'lotus' vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong

此壺形制恢宏，窰工精湛，紋飾繁奢，頗見乾隆治下巧匠絕技。奉乾隆之命，景德鎮御窰廠集巧匠製瓷，為投天子崇尚富麗之好，成器不吝藻飾、不拘一格，重綺思而彰神技。採上乘之料，施純熟之法，陶匠盡展所長，大器頻出。

此壺取形上古吉金，原型用於奉先祀祖之禮。束頸下侈，落於豐肩，脊棱轉折，承接鼓腹，如此格局，既仿尊，添設貫耳，又仿壺，可溯至公元前一千餘年晚商時期。乾隆鑒古、藏古，對仿古器形青睞有加。

匠心古為今用，於纏枝花卉亦可見得，該紋飾幽婉瑰逸，乃承襲明代青花，十五世紀初已有。清代陶匠技精藝卓，繪鈷料成青花，色澤濃麗，更以點染法仿效鐵鏽斑，憑清時巧藝奪明初天工。

形制相類且魁碩之器亦見燒於雍正朝，然作細圓頸，無足。比一雍正例，藏故宮博物院，北京，亦飾明式纏枝花卉，錄《清代御窰瓷器》，卷1下，北京，2005年，圖版178。此雍正器形於乾隆朝仍有沿用，故宮博物院藏有二例，其一飾蓮花，其二飾明式纏枝花卉等，錄《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集・青花釉裡紅（下）》，上海，2000年，圖版130及131。

英王喬治五世之財務大臣兼皇室內務總管 Ralph Harwood K.C.B., K.CV.O. 爵士舊藏一例，與此件頗似，原屬温莎城堡皇家收藏，據傳由瑪麗皇后賜贈，後售於倫敦蘇富比1994年6月7日，編號358。另一乾隆例，器形相類，寬頸，帶足，紋飾佈局與此件雷同，售於香港蘇富比2019年4月3日，編號3633。再比一例，售於香港蘇富比1977年5月16日，編號90，現貯於香港藝術館，曾展於該館《清瓷薈錦：香港藝術館藏清代陶瓷》，香港，1984年，編號63。

The present vase is notable for its impressive size, fine potting and skilfully executed, varied decorative bands, and represents the expertise of craftsmen working during the Qianlong reign. In order to satisfy his own flamboyant taste, the Qianlong Emperor is known to have commissioned artists working in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen to make pieces that were highly challenging and unconventional, often placing particular emphasis on the showier aspects of production and on the virtuosity of craftsmanship. The refinement of the material and expertise in firing provided a platform for artists to be ambitious in their repertoire and allowed for the making of such large vessels.

The form of this vase is an adaptation of archaic ritual bronze vessels, intended for use during ancestor worship ceremonies. Features like the angular ridge separating a concave neck from a convex body can already by traced to vessels of zun shape and tubular handles to vessels of hu form from the end of the Shang period in the late 2nd millennium BC. This reference to archaic forms would have been much appreciated by the Emperor who was a great connoisseur and a keen collector of archaic pieces.

Further reference to China's celebrated past is seen in the intricately painted floral scrolls which were inspired by Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain of the early 15th century. Painted in a brilliant deep cobalt blue, which reflects the high level of technical achievement by Qing craftsmen, Qing painters employed a stippled effect to simulate the accidental unevenness known as 'heaping and piling' typically found on early Ming pieces.

Large vases of related form, but with a narrow cylindrical neck and without foot were already produced during the Yongzheng reign. A Yongzheng vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly decorated with Ming-style flower scrolls, is illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing imperial porcelain], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 178. This Yongzheng form was also copied rather closely in the Qianlong period; compare two such vases in the Palace Museum, Beijing, one decorated with lotus flowers, the other with Ming-style flower scrolls and other motifs, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, Shanghai, 2000, vol. 3, pls 130 and 131.

A similar vase from the collection of Sir Ralph Harwood, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., at one time Financial Secretary to King George V and Controller of the Royal Household, and believed to have been presented to him by Queen Mary, out of the Royal collections at Windsor Castle, was sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1994, lot 358. See also a Qianlong vase of related form, with broader neck and a foot, and the same design as the present vase, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2019, lot 3633. Compare also another example, also sold in our Hong Kong rooms,16th May 1977, lot 90 and now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the Museum's exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 63.