£42,000
IMPRESSIVE FAMILLE VERTE SQUARE-SECTIONED VASE
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
康熙五彩歷史人物故事圖紋四方瓶
this tall and heavy vase is decorated on the four vertical and rectangular panels with scenes that are probably taken from the life of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (685 - 762) A.D. The lower part of the vase is made with moulded sections luted together and in turn are luted to the shoulder and wheel-thrown neck. The neck is decorated with a landscape scene, with scholarly objects on the four corners against a hatched background. The base has a glazed incised Chengua mark surrounded by an unglazed foot.
The first scene depicted on the vase - painted in beautiful detail in the famille verte palette - depicts the Tang Emperor Xuanzong and his favourite concubine Yang Guifei during their summer retreat at the Huaqing Palace. They look on from a beautifully decorated boat as their attendants, in smaller boats, pick lotus flowers.
Two of the other scenes on the vase show the same emperor on horseback and probably also relate to stories of the Emperor Xuanzong. The battle scene could possibly be from Sui Tang Yanyi - "Legends of the Sui and Tang" - which is set during the time of Tang Xuanzong.
The fourth panel, intricately decorated with five female musicians and a dancer, possibly relates to Yang Guifei’s beautiful dancing which captivated the emperor.
47.8cm high
NOTE: The successful potting of square forms was a challenge having first appeared in the late Ming dynasty. In order to survive the firing, thicker walls were required to reinforce the lute lines. The Kangxi period rendering of this ambitious form attests to the confidence and technical power of the potter who not only rose to the challenge of the form but also surpassed earlier versions with long tapering sides and a gently flaring cylindrical mouth.
PROVENANCE: Acquired from Guest & Gray, London, May 2009.
RELATED EXAMPLE: The same scene of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei looking on as their attendants pick lotus blossom can be seen on a Kangxi famille verte rouleau vase in “Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection”, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, No: 127, Pages: 196-197.
A very similar shaped vase – but with different narrative scenes – can be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Accession: 1955-50-289. This item formed part of the “Alfred and Margaret Caspary Memorial Gift, 1955.
A small in-fill U-shaped chip with some minor infilled frits
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