A blue and white 'peach' moonflask, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青花纏枝蓮紋杏圓開光福壽紋雙耳扁壺 《大清乾隆年製》款

This piece has been masterfully executed to resemble the celebrated blue and white wares of the early 15th century through the use of the 'heaped and piled' technique to render the designs. By carefully manipulating the cobalt pigment, the craftsman has successfully simulated the uneven blue tones characteristic of the early Ming period that occurred naturally as a result of the firing process. 

Qianlong mark and period moonflasks of this type are held in important museum and private collections worldwide. See one in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, published in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2004, cat. no. 220; another in Newfields (formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Art), Indianapolis, included in the Museum's exhibition Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis, 1983, cat. no. 116; and a third, included in the exhibition Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 66. Further examples include one from the collection of R.I.C. Herridge, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29th November 1978, lot 235; another sold in the same rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3725; and a third, sold in these rooms, 21st September 2021, lot 145.