41. * MAGNIFIQUE ET TRÈS RARE GRAND VASE EN PORCELAINE DE LA FAMILLE ROSE À FOND BLEU ET À DÉCOR À L'OR Marque et époque Qianlong (1736-1795) A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE LARGE GILT-DECORATED BLUE-GROUND FAMILLE ROSE 'ONE HUNDRED BOYS AT PLAY' VASE Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period Of tall baluster form raised on a splayed foot, the rounded body surmounted by a tall waisted neck rising to a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth, each side finely and vividly painted with two large circular panels enclosing a garden scene with young boys at play, gathered in animated groups busily performing a dragon dance, blowing trumpets, playing with cymbals and drums, also playing with animal puppets, riding hobby-horses, carrying lanterns and lighting firecrackers, the scenes framed by trees and shrubs, all within a raised gilt border, reserved against a deep blue ground finely painted in shades of gold with feathery scrollwork issuing large lotus and peony blooms between bands of tall upright lappets around the neck and ruyi-heads around foot, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue, wood base. 73cm (28 3/4in) high. (2). 清乾隆 霽藍地描金花卉紋開光粉彩嬰戲圖大瓶 「大清乾隆年製」款 Provenance: Collection of Jules Blanchard (1874-1953), Chazelles-sur-Lyon, acquired in Paris in the early decades of the 20th century, and thence by direct descent in the family to the present owner. 來源： 巴黎及沙澤勒敘里昂Jules Blanchard（1874-1953）珍藏，於二十世紀初得自巴黎，後經家族流傳至現藏家 Exquisitely painted with two large medallions each enclosing lively scenes of groups of young boys at play, set against a luxuriant, rich blue ground finely painted with large scrolling lotus and peony flowers amidst feathery leaves, this magnificent vase is a very fine example of imperial porcelains made during the Qianlong reign. Its sheer size is unusual and must have represented a technical challenge for the potters working in the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. Yet works such as this vase could only have been made in the imperial kilns under the direction of Tang Yin (1682-1756) whose vast experience and unique understanding of the medium and the porcelain production process combined with his inherent sense of aesthetics pushed potters to create ever bigger and more ambitious pieces. The large surface of the vase presented a blank canvas for the porcelain painters who were tasked to decorate it. They chose a combination of highly ornamental figural and floral designs using bright enamel colours contrasting with a gilt-decorated dark blue glaze. The decoration focuses on two large circular medallions that grace each side of the generously rounded body of the vase. Each medallion is exquisitely painted with a bucolic garden setting bordered by craggy rockwork and gnarled pines, flowering prunus and clusters of bamboo, providing the background for animated groups of small boys engaged in a variety of activities: while some boys are performing a dragon dance with a vibrant pink and pale blue dragon held aloft tall sticks, others are playing with animal puppets in the form of three life-like goats and a caparisoned elephant, yet others are carrying festively adorned lanterns while one child is lighting a fire-cracker, all accompanied by the sound of another group of boys playing drums, cymbals, a gong and blowing a trumpet. Two boys are holding up a puppet in the form of a goldfish and a bouquet of lotus flowers. In Chinese, goldfish jinyu 玉魚 are homophonous with the word for gold (jin 金) and jade (yu 玉), and together with lotus and boys they convey the wish liannian youyu 年年有餘 (may you continuously have plenty year after year). The figures and their toys are intricately depicted with great attention to detail. The boys all have finely detailed individual features, their facial expressions are highly animated, some boys are concentrated, some impatient, others joyful. They are dressed in colourful shirts tied with belts, vests fastened at the neck, their hair tied tightly on top of their head. The two compositions are vivacious and realistic, capturing the excited mood of groups of young boys at play. Yingxitu 嬰戲圖 (pictures of boys at play) and baizitu 百子圖 (pictures of one hundred boys) are intimately connected with the strong desire for male offspring, who would perform ancestral sacrifices and thus endure the continuation of the family line. Depictions of children in gardens became an established painting genre in the Song dynasty (960-1279), and by the Ming period (1368-1644) boys were depicted engaged in activities that also conveyed auspicious messages that impersonated adult aspirations. Under the Qianlong emperor, depictions of boys at play proliferated on porcelain as he was particularly fond of auspicious and amusing designs. The theme can be found on quite a number of vases of Qianlong date, similarly rendered but on a smaller scale, with boys at play within a garden, today in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, vol.39, Hong Kong, 1999, cat.nos. 91, 92, 121, 128 and 129. Most other examples of famille rose-decorated vases with figural scenes are decorated with colourful blue, pink, green or yellow enamelled borders. The combination of famille rose medallions against a rich gilt-decorated dark blue ground as seen on the present vase is very unusual, especially on vases of this impressive size. At least three vases of smaller size and different shapes and designs, similarly decorated with famille rose panels on a gilt-decorated dark blue ground are also in the collection of the Palace Museum, see ibid. cat.nos.130, 131 and 133. The Palace Museum collection also includes a small vase with a continuous scene of 'boys at play' between gilt-decorated blue-glazed borders, see ibid., cat.nos.132 (Fig. 1). Vases of this impressive size and decorated in a rich palette of enamels against a gilt-decorated blue-glazed ground are very rare. The Palace Museum collection records one large vase of this design but decorated with flowers and calligraphy, see ibid., cat.no.129 (Fig. 2). The closest example in size and design is a pair of large gilt-decorated blue-ground famille rose double-gourd vases (accession no. RCIN 33.1-2.a) in the Royal Collection, London, possibly presented by the Qianlong emperor to King George III in 1793, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 2016, nos.685 and 686.