A DOUCAI MINIATURE ‘LOTUS’ VASE, YONGZHENG MARK AND PERIODChina, 1723-1735. Delicately potted with a slightly compressed globular body rising from a short ring foot to a cylindrical neck, decorated with alternating lotus blooms and ruyi-heads borne on scrolling tendrils between palm blade bands on the shoulder and above the foot. The recessed base bears the neatly painted six-character mark da Qing Yongzheng nianzhi in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period.Provenance: Zhou Shengli (1951-2018). Acquired at a Japanese auction house or gallery in the late 1980s (invoice not available). According to the present owner, who then was a young boy, “the price was about RMB 100,000 at the time”. Thence by descent within the same family to the present owner. Zhou Shengli was born in Shanghai and studied painting under Lu Yanshao (1909-1993). In the 1990s, he established the ‘Baosteel Painting and Calligraphy Society’ with him and his colleagues participating in many calligraphy and painting competitions and winning over twenty of the highest prizes and awards. Today, Zhou’s paintings are exhibited in the prestigious Beijing Gallery, along with many of China’s most important artists.Condition: Absolutely perfect condition with minor wear and microscopic firing irregularities.Weight: 100.5 gDimensions: Height 10.3 cmThe neck is decorated with bands of dot, fringe, and geometric scroll, all framed by circumferential lines, the foot with two circumferential lines as well.Small delicate vases of this type were displayed in the palace as receptacles for flowers, possibly on a scholar’s desk. Collected in the Palace Museum is a portrait depicting the Qianlong Emperor dressed in Han attire in a scholar’s studio, together with a monochrome lobed vase of related form to the current vase, containing flowers and placed on a stand on the table. This portrait is illustrated on the front cover of Tushuo Qinggong ciqi dang an – wenfang juan, Beijing, 2016.With a fitted Japanese silk storage box bearing an old paper label with an illegible inscription. (2)Literature comparison: Compare with a closely related vase, however incomplete or ‘unfinished doucai’ as it is only decorated in blue, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in Fine Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art, Jade Carvings and Jadeite Jewelry on 4 May 1994, lot 170, with an estimate of HKD 100,000-120,000. Another Yongzheng vase of this rare pattern, from the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, p. 91. Compare, also, with another type of small doucai vase, with a lobed body and long neck, decorated with the ‘Three Friends of Winter’ motif, such as the one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1986, pl. 46, and another in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 142.Auction result comparison: Compare with a related small doucai vase, but with a lobed body, at Christie’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on 22 March 2019, lot 1810, sold for USD 237,500 and a pair of related small lobed doucai vases at Christie’s Hong Kong in Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 29 November 2017, lot 2909, sold for HKD 9,700,000. 雍正款與年代斗彩纏枝蓮紋直頸小瓶 中國，1723-1735年。瓶形為小口，直頸，豐肩，腹碩大，短圈足。肩部裝飾芭蕉葉紋，腹部纏枝蓮紋。圈足内凹，雙圈青花“大清雍正年制“。來源：周生力 (1951-2018) 收藏。大約1990年代購於日本拍賣行（發票已遺失)。据現任藏家說，當年他才十幾歲，就花了十萬元人民幣。直至現任藏家前一直保存在同一家族中。周生力出生於上海，師從陸儼少(1909-1993) 學畫。1990年代他和他的同事們參加了許多書法和繪畫比賽，並贏得了二十多個獎項，從而建立了“寶鋼書畫學會”。 如今，周生力的繪畫作品與許多中國最重要的藝術家一起在著名的北京畫廊展出。圖片: 周生力與陸儼少，約 1970 至1980年間。 品相：絕對完美狀態，輕微磨損和燒制不規則。重量：100.5 克 尺寸：高 10.3 厘米 直頸部裝幾何捲軸帶以及圓點。瓶沿下與圈足上各有兩行青花紋。這類精緻的小花瓶經常用於宮内作為花瓶，可放書桌上。故宮博物院收藏的一幅乾隆帝在書房的畫中，有一個與當前花瓶相近的單色淺葉花瓶，裏面放著鮮花，放在桌上的博古架上。 這幅畫是《紫禁城的記憶：圖說清宮瓷器檔案·文房卷》的封面，北京，2016年。日本絲綢盒，印有難以辨認的舊紙標籤。 （2）文獻比較：香港蘇富比Fine Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art, Jade Carvings and Jadeite Jewelry 拍場1994年5月 4日, lot 170, 估價HKD 100,000-120,000；A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Liu Liang-yu編著, vol. 5, p. 91；臺北故宮博物院, 特別展Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, 臺北, 1986, 圖 46；南京博物院Treasures in the Royalty展覽 The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty,上海, 2003, 圖 142。 拍賣結果比較：一件相似斗彩瓶，寬壺身，售于紐約佳士得 Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 拍場，2019年3月 22日，lot 1810，售價USD 237,500. 一件相似 小型斗彩瓶，售于香港佳士得Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 拍 場，2017年11月29日，lot 2909，售價HKD 9,700,000.
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