A blue and white handled vase, hu, Mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 青花纏枝花卉紋鳩耳壺 《大清雍正年製》款

Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-97).

Wou Lien-Pai Museum, 1975-present, coll. no. Q8.33.

吳權博士 (1910-97年) 收藏

吳蓮伯博物院，1975年至今，編號Q8.33

The present vase illustrates the multitude of stylistic sources of early Qing dynasty potters. The overall shape and the stylised turtledove handles are, for example, loosely based on Zhou dynasty archaic bronze hu vessels with spiral-horned dragons; see a prototype in the British Museum, London, accession no. 1970,1104.1, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual, London, 1987, cat. no. 29. Turtledove, or jiu in Chinese, is a symbol of longevity, for the bird is believed to be immune from choking. On the other hand, the delicately painted decoration in cobalt blue with the simulated ‘heaped and piled’ effect is associated with early Ming dynasty porcelain wares. 

Vases of this type are rare, and only a handful of examples appear to have been published. A larger vase with a foliate scroll band at the mouth from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red, vol. 3, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 95. Two vases of the same design and proportion appeared at auction: one sold at Christie’s London, 10th December 1984, lot 967, and again in these rooms, 20th November 1985, lot 89; and another sold twice in these rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 75, and 29th October 1991, lot 133, and included in Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 176.

This type of Yongzheng vases is also known to be covered in monochrome glazes. Compare a flambe-glazed example of this large size, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 3299; a smaller celadon-glazed vase with archaistic relief decoration in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, Yongzheng chapter, pl. 105, together with a guan-type example, also smaller in size, pl. 78; and a further guan-type vase from the collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, sold in these rooms, 2nd October 2018, lot 101.

Archaistic vases similar to the present example continued to be made during the Qianlong reign, yet in slightly different proportions. A larger blue and white hu vase from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, op.cit., pl. 136, and possibly its pair, a vase in the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 234. 

清初藝匠，集前朝風格之大成。此瓶雙鳩耳，仿傚周朝古青銅壺；參考倫敦大英博物館藏品，載於羅森，《Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual》，倫敦，1987年，編號29。古人信鳩為「不噎之鳥」，象徴長壽。青花繪飾，則摹擬明初黑疵，尤溢古韻。

相類瓶子極為稀珍，群書記載甚少。一較大例，口沿飾纏枝卷草，清宮舊藏，現北京故宮博物院蓄，載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．青花釉裏紅（下）》，上海，2000年，圖版95。拍賣場上所見有二瓶同式：一例售於倫敦佳士得1984年12月10日，編號967，後售於香港蘇富比1985年11月20日，編號89；另一例曾二度由香港蘇富比售出，分別為1989年11月14日，編號75，及1991年10月29日，編號133，並刊於《香港蘇富比二十週年》，香港，1993年，圖版176。

雍正年製鳩耳壺，也有見施單色釉者。參見一窰變釉例，售於香港佳士得2011年11月30日，編號3299；亦可比較粉青釉仿古紋與仿官釉二例，皆北京故宮博物院藏，分別錄於《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989年，雍正卷，圖版105及78；利國偉爵士舊藏還有一仿官釉例，香港蘇富比2018年10月2日售出，編號101。

此式仿古瓷壺，乾隆窰續燒，然尺寸、比例與本品略有不同。清宮舊藏一青花壺，現存北京，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集》，前述出處，圖版136。南京博物館也有藏例，或與前者成對，刊於《中國清代官窰瓷器》，上海，2003年，圖版234。