An extremely rare imperial blue and white 'musk-mallow and lingzhi' vaseQianlong seal mark and of the period
Finely potted, the baluster shaped body with curved sides rising to a rounded shoulder, surmounted by a slender waisted neck with a lipped mouth, flanked by a pair of crisply moulded ruyi-shaped handles, the body exquisitely painted in bright shades of cobalt-blue with a broad register enclosing four musk-mallow blossoms, encircled on a ground of finely detailed flower blooms and lingzhi fungus on a foliate scroll vine, set on a slightly splayed foot skirted with bands of pendant plantain leaves and ruyi-heads, the shoulder similarly painted below a band of ruyi-heads below the rim, the underside inscribed with a seal mark in underglaze blue. 27.5cm (10 7/8in) high.注脚清乾隆 青花秋葵瑞芝如意耳瓶 青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款

Provenance:
Annie Madeline Glover (b.1883), Bath, UK, and thence by descent, by repute
An important Asian private collection

來源：
傳英國巴斯安妮·瑪德琳·格羅夫（1883年生）夫人，後由家族傳承
重要亞洲私人收藏

According to the previous owners, the vase was acquired by Annie Madeline Glover (b.1883, Brixton, London), who arrived in Shanghai to teach in September 1910. There she married James Arthur Burke-Scott in 1912, had a son in 1913 and was widowed in 1918. Subsequently she and her son Pat moved back to England in 1922 on the P&O ocean liner SS Egypt, eventually settling in Bloomfield Park, Bath.

據前藏家所言，此瓶曾為生於倫敦布里克斯頓的安妮·瑪德琳·格羅夫（1883年生）夫人所有。格羅夫於1910抵埠上海并開始教學生涯，於1912年與詹姆斯·亞瑟·伯克-斯科特結婚，翌年產一子，1918年寡居。1922年母子二人乘半島東方輪船公司的SS埃及號返回英國，最終定居巴斯布盧姆菲爾德公園。

The present vase is exceptionally rare for its combination of form and decoration, exquisitely combining inspiration from the celebrated Chenghua dynasty blue and white 'palace bowls', with western-influenced painting techniques re-interpreted during the celebrated reign of the Qianlong emperor.

The elegantly potted baluster shape is an innovation of the vases of related form made during the Yongzheng reign; compare a blue and white vase, Yongzheng mark and period, but with loop handles and everted rim, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, no.85. See also a related yellow-ground green and aubergine enamelled vase, Qianlong seal mark and period, of similar form from the Qing Court Collection, but without handles, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelians, Plain Tricoloured Porcelians, Shanghai, 2009, no.132; another related doucai vase but with loop handles, Qianlong seal mark and period, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasurers of the Palace Museum: Porcelians in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Shanghai, 2007, no.252. The innovative form and subtle blue and white painting on the present vase indicate an early Qianlong reign date, suggesting this vase may have been made during the tenure of Tang Ying (1682-1756), the renowned superintendent of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen.

The exquisite and subtle musk-mallow design painted in soft shades of blue was clearly inspired by Chenghua period 'palace bowls' but may also be seen as continuation of the Yongzheng period style of painting. The tonal gradation of the flower petals and leaves were inspired by the shuanggou or 'double outlines' and pingtu 'even coat' painting techniques applied on most Chenghua blue and white wares. See a Chenghua musk-mallow 'palace' bowl in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, illustrated in Imperial Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Osaka, 1995, no.229; and another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Radiating Hues of Blue and White: Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 2016, no.59.

This subtle painting palette on the present vase differs from other Ming style blue and white made during the Qianlong reign which were inspired by blue and white porcelain made during the earlier Yongle and Xuande reigns. The earlier reigns often displayed the 'heaping and piling' effect caused by the iron content in the imported cobalt blue, and Qianlong reign wares made inspired by such pieces, equally imitated this effect; see for example a blue and white vase, Qianlong seal mark and period, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, no.136. A similar underglaze palette can also be observed on a blue and white 'bajixiang' vase, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in ibid., no.137.

Combined with its unusual form, the imperial atelier achieved a sense of exoticism in the present lot through the distinctive decoration. While the musk-mallow design takes its inspiration from the extremely treasured 'palace bowls' of the Chenghua period, its combination of multi-lobed flower petals and contrasting pointed and serrated leaves reflect the Western painting tradition which was made popular through Jesuit missionary painters working for the Qianlong emperor.

The ruyi-shaped handles can be seen during the Qianlong reign mostly on enamel decorated vases; see a turquoise-ground famille rose vase and a ruby-ground famille rose vase, Qianlong mark and period, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 2009, nos.118 and 127.

The combination of the foreign style painting tradition with Chinese decorative elements can be also found on two examples: a pair of enamelled vases, Qianlong seal marks and period, made in 1742 (seventh year of the Qianlong reign), which is also decorated with similar western-style flowers and leaves and lingzhi fungus, in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Stunning Decorative Porcelain from the Ch'ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, no.33; and a blue and white jar with hydra-shaped handles, Qianlong mark and period, with similarly painted serrated leaves and bajixiang symbols, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, no.137.

See three various examples of Ming-style blue and white vases, Qianlong seal marks and of the period, which were sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2009, lot 1699 and 8 October 2013, lot 3032, and at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2018, lot 3004.

圓唇，束頸，兩側飾鉤首如意耳，溜肩，胸圓鼓，身下收至下腹略微外撇，青花滿飾，唇下一周如意雲頭紋，如意耳身鉤花朵，頸部一周連枝紋將頸腹分開，而上下紋飾皆為纏枝秋葵紋，纏枝之上蔓生靈芝及莨苕紋，底部一周仰式如意頭及簡化蕉葉紋，青花勾勒清楚，分水鮮明，發色雅緻，而明暗有度，花紋姿態婉轉，曼妙如生，底部正中篆書「大清乾隆年製款」。

此瓶形態優美，繪藝卓絕，燒製精當，完美融合成化青花宮碗之設計和西方繪畫之技法，為乾隆本朝瓷器登峰造極之作。

瓶身線條停勻優美，源自雍正朝之橄欖瓶，可參考一件北京故宮藏雍正青花纏枝花紋雙耳瓶，惟雙耳方環，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集青花釉裡紅（下）》，香港，2010年，編號85。清宮舊藏一件清乾隆黃地紫綠彩勾蓮紋瓶，其形制與該瓶類似，唯無雙耳設計，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：雜釉彩·素三彩》，上海，2009年，編號132。另參考清宮舊藏一件清乾隆鬥彩花卉紋雙耳活環瓶，著錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：五彩·鬥彩》，上海，2007年，編號252。此瓶青花發色淡雅，形制一開先河，皆有乾隆早期瓷器的特點，或由唐英（1682-1756）在景德鎮督造而成。

瓶身所繪纏枝花紋可謂中西結合的典範。秋葵紋飾取材自明代成化青花宮碗，然而其明暗對比，清晰準確的花瓣經絡，婉轉立體的形態，則受益於雍乾時期供職內府的西方傳教士。他們將西畫的技法帶入中式設計，與成化瓷器所見中國傳統的「雙鉤平塗」相結合，呈現出立體雅緻的效果。可比較一件大阪東洋陶瓷館所藏成化青花連枝秋葵宮碗，歷經Lindsay Hay及R.E.R. Luff、安宅遞藏，見《皇帝の磁器: 新発見の景德鎮官窯》，大阪，1995年，編號229；台北故宮亦藏一件類似的成化青花秋葵紋宮碗，見《藍白輝映：院藏明代青花瓷展》，台北，2016年，編號59。

如意耳目前所見為乾隆一朝獨創，多飾於琺瑯彩瓷器，如清宮舊藏一件粉彩綠地勾蓮紋如意耳瓶和一件粉彩紫地勾蓮紋如意耳瓶，皆乾隆款，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集琺瑯彩·粉彩》，香港，2009年，編號118及127。

中西合璧的裝飾風格可參見兩岸故宮所藏實例，如一件台北故宮藏乾隆七年款磁胎洋彩瑞芝洋花蟬紋罇，見《華麗彩瓷–乾隆洋彩》，台北，2008年，編號33；北京故宮藏一件乾隆粉彩錦地開光蓮花詩句瓶，見前書，香港，2009年，編號137。

另參考三件市場上曾售出之清乾隆時期仿明式青花花瓶，如香港蘇富比售出一例，2009年10月8日，拍品編號1699以及2013年10月8日，拍品編號3032。另見香港佳士得售出一例，2018年5月30日，拍品編號3004。

PLEASE REFER TO THE E-CATALOGUE FOR A FULL RESEARCH ARTICLE BY HUANG WEIWEN, RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE PALACE MUSEUM, BEIJING

請查看電子圖錄以閱覽黃衛文先生對此拍品之相關論述