A BLUE AND WHITE MOONFLASK 'BIANHU'

Estimated Value:

6.000 € - 10.000 €

Schätzpreis:

20.000 €

Description:

China, underglaze blue Qianlong seal mark and period
H. 24,4 cm
Of flattened form rising from a splayed rectangular foot, moulded on each side with a raised peach-shaped cartouche in relief, painted with two bats in flight encircling peaches issuing from a gnarled leafy branch, the body further surrounded by meandering lotus scrolls and two bands of lingzhi running along the sides, the narrow neck flanked by a pair ruyi-form handles, with further lotus scrolls and a trefoil band below the everted rim.
Formerly from an old private collection in Berlin, assembled before 2007
The shape of the present moon bottle is inspired by early 15th century prototypes from the Yongle period. These in turn derive their shape from Islamic metal bottles. The subtle and varied blue-white colouring imitates the high-iron cobalt blue imported from the early Ming dynasty, resulting in dark blue spots on the surface, also known as the "heaped-and-piled" effect.
This moon bottle is one of a group of imperial porcelain designed by the Imperial Household Department - about thirty in number - referred to in the Qing dynasty imperial archives as unporcelain of the day and sent to the imperial court in the autumn and winter seasons. These designs were produced until the twenty-fifth year of the Daoguang period, i.e. 1845-6, although the quantity was strictly controlled by the Imperial Household Ministry; see Wang Guangyao, Official Designs and Imperial Porcelain: The Palace Museum's Collection of Official Porcelain Designs and Porcelains from Imperial Kilns of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2007, pp. 15-16. Similar moon bottles are found in major museum collections: see T. Yoneyma, Qing Dynasty Porcelain from the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, 2006, p. 58, no. 49; another in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2004, p. 220; cf. also another from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, illustrated in Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis, 1983, no. 116. A very similar vessel with a jiaqing seal from the Qing court collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum:The Complete Collection of Treasures of Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, Pl. 148, showing the popularity and continuity of this form and design - Filled loss to mouth rim and with small chips and frits

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