AN UNUSUAL YELLOW-GROUND FAMILLE-ROSE VASE QING DYNASTY, DAOGUANG PERIOD, SHENDE TANG MARK

the finely potted globular body rising to a slender cylindrical neck with a gilded mouthrim, decorated around the exterior with scattered sprays of pink prunus blossoms and green bamboo, all reserved on a bright lemon-yellow ground, the interior and the base covered in a turquoise glaze, the recessed base inscribed in iron-red with a four-character hallmark Shende Tang zhi ('Made for the Hall of Prudent Virtue')

Collection of Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire.
The Rt. Hon The Lord Margadale of Islay, T.D.
Christie's London, 18th October 1971, lot 75.
Jen Chai Art Gallery, New York, no. A531 (one of the gallery labels of J.T. Tai & Co.).

The overall condition is good. There are two faint hairline cracks - one about 3 cm and the other about 3.5 cm extending from the rim. The base has a triangular A-shaped crack on the base - the longest side about 3 cm. There is a minute flake to the mouth. There is a small potting bump on the body below the enamelling. The enamels are intact and there is ample gilding remaining on the mouthrim.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This design of loosely distributed sprigs of prunus and bamboo on an intense yellow ground is highly unusual, although the Daoguang period is known for this style of neat, unfussy designs on an intensely coloured ground. Similar decoration appears on an incense burner with puce-coloured ground inscribed with a Daoguang seal mark, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 303, fig. 512.

The present design was probably inspired by Yongzheng falangcai designs of prunus branches on a yellow ground, as can be seen on the outside of a bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, 1989, p. 232, pl. 61; and on the outside of a dish in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the Museum's Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 87.

The 'Shende Tang' (Hall of Prudent Virtue) referred to in the base mark was the residence of the Daoguang Emperor in the Yuanming Yuan summer palace in the outskirts of Beijing, where it was located at the western side of the Jiuzhou Qingyan (Palace of Peace in the Nine Regions). The Shende Tang was completed in 1831, thus making Daoguang pieces with this mark attributable to the two decades between 1831 and 1850; see Ming Wilson, Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics, London, 1998, cat. no. 8, where a yellow-glazed bowl with cranes bearing this mark is illustrated, from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.