Jingdezhen Qianlong-Style Green-Ground Famille Rose Yuhuchun Vase

A saturated green ground gives this Yuhuchun vase a different rhythm from white-ground famille rose. Red bats cross between scrolling floral forms, while denser enamel bands frame the neck and lower body.

In Chinese decorative language, bats are associated with fu, or good fortune, because the words share the same sound. Their red color turns that auspicious meaning into the strongest visual contrast against the green field, allowing each bat to emerge clearly between the scrolling flowers.

The decorative language belongs to the richly layered color-ground porcelains associated with the Qianlong court. A Qianlong green-ground famille rose Yuhuchun of related type sold at Sheppard's Ireland in 2016 for EUR 260,000, approximately USD $288,000 at the time, before later appearing at Yu Jen. Christie's has separately documented Qianlong color-ground vases combining red bats, scrolling lotus, ruyi, key-fret, and lotus-petal bands. The present vase brings that auspicious decorative vocabulary into a fully handmade and hand-painted Jingdezhen work for contemporary display.

The pear-shaped Yuhuchun profile keeps the complex decoration from becoming static: the narrow neck opens into a rounded lower body, allowing the floral scroll to widen and the bats to appear at different points as the vase turns. At 32 cm high, it has the presence of a serious cabinet or console piece, but its value is still found close up, in the continuity of the handwork and the way every border supports the central field.

• Origin: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China
• Material: Porcelain
• Craft: Fully handmade and hand-painted in Jingdezhen
• Decoration: Hand-painted famille rose enamels over a green ground
• Motifs: Red bats, scrolling lotus, ruyi, key-fret, lotus-petal, and decorative border bands
• Form: Yuhuchun vase
• Dimensions: 32 cm H x 19 cm max body diameter / 12.6 in H x 7.5 in max body diameter
• Base diameter: 11 cm / 4.3 in
• Base mark: Decorative six-character 大清乾隆年製 seal-script-style mark
• Presentation: Gift box included
• Object status: Contemporary Qianlong-style interpretation