Jingdezhen Qianlong-Style Famille Rose Carmine-Ground Meiping Vase

This 37 cm Jingdezhen meiping closely recreates one of the most celebrated ruby-ground famille rose designs of the Qianlong period. Its small mouth and full shoulder carry a continuous field of lotus, peony, baoxianghua, and plantain-leaf ornament, set against a saturated carmine ground and framed with gold-toned borders.

The red field reveals its real complexity at close range. Before firing, fine phoenix-tail scrolls are cut through the enamel by hand, creating the dense graviata ground known in Chinese as zhadao, or "needle-etched decoration." The incised pattern remains quiet beneath the hand-painted famille rose flowers, so two levels of workmanship emerge as the vase turns.

The historical model appeared at Sotheby's Hong Kong on 31 October 2004 as lot 131 and sold for HK$41,502,400, approximately US$5.3 million. Sotheby's later identified a companion meiping in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Together, these references place the design within a rare and highly regarded group of Qianlong ruby-ground sgraffiato porcelains, where a Chinese vessel form and floral language meet enamel techniques developed through Qing court exchange with Europe.

At 37 cm high, this contemporary handmade Jingdezhen recreation stays remarkably close to the recorded 37.5 cm scale of the 2004 original. The half-centimetre variation is natural in a body shaped by hand and transformed through firing. The silhouette, layered floral field, incised ground, and ornamental bands have been brought together to recover the presence of the historic meiping in a form made for a present-day collection.

The motifs carry the blessing as clearly as the workmanship. Lotus suggests purity and integrity; the unbroken scrolling vines evoke continuity and flourishing growth; peony and baoxianghua bring associations of abundance, honor, and auspicious completion. This is why the vase can hold a central position without flowers: its surface is already a complete garden, built line by line across the curved porcelain body.

• Origin: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China
• Material: Porcelain made from porcelain stone and kaolin
• Craft: Fully handmade porcelain body with hand-incised graviata and hand-painted famille rose overglaze
• Motifs: Lotus, peony, baoxianghua, plantain leaves, lotus-petal bands, and scrolling vines
• Historical reference: Qianlong-period ruby-ground graviata meiping sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31 October 2004, lot 131
• Dimensions: 37 cm H x 25 cm body diameter / 14.6 in H x 9.8 in body diameter
• Mouth opening: 8.5 cm / 3.3 in
• Base diameter: 14 cm / 5.5 in
• Rim and foot: Gold-toned decoration
• Base mark: Decorative six-character Qianlong-style reign mark
• Date: Contemporary