A rare and fine porcelain 'Mille-Fleur' rouleau vase decorated in underglaze blue

Description:

China, 18th/19th cent.
H. 45,4 cm
Around the body fine decoration of dense flowers and foliage in fine painting in graduated underglaze blue tones.
From an old European private collection
The term mille-fleurs (French for "thousand flowers") has become established in Western art history as a term for extremely dense floral decorations covering large areas. In the Qing dynasty, especially in the 18th cent. the baihua ("hundred flowers") or wanhua ("ten thousand flowers") motif is particularly widespread on Chinese porcelain - usually as a lush all-over of peonies, chrysanthemums, lotus, peonies, carnations and others. This carpet of flowers symbolises happiness, wealth and harmonious prosperity (huakai fugui). In practice, however, an overglaze enamel (especially famille rose) is used for the majority of the famous "mille-fleurs" pieces - especially under Qianlong (1736-1795) and further on in Jiaqing/Daoguang - often on a gold-coloured ground. Parallel to these colourful enamel works, however, there are also rare and technically remarkable underglaze blue variants of the mille-fleurs or "hundred-flower" decoration. Here, the motif is not painted in polychrome enamels, but in fine shades of cobalt blue directly onto the raw body before the piece is covered with transparent glaze and fired at a high temperature. This underglaze technique requires the utmost precision: cobalt blue tends to run during firing, which is why every line must be securely set. These works demonstrate the principle of "floral overflow" - a deliberate overfilling of the picture surface with natural forms, which in Chinese aesthetics is not understood as an excess, but as an expression of vital harmony. The dense pile, which leaves no emptiness whatsoever, evokes the idea of an eternally blooming world - Good condition