85.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ VASE, HU
Qing dynasty, 18th century
14,5 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3439.
The appreciation for classical taste reached its peak during the eighteenth century, particularly during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. The Jingdezhen kilns then produced numerous examples of porcelain which resembled ancient prototypes in shape and style of the decoration.
This vase exemplifies this features, for the shape inspired to archaic hu-type ritual bronze wine containers, and in the style of the decoration, evident above all in the band with stylized dragons towards the rim and in the frieze of lanceolate leaves just below.
The large-mesh rope grid that seems to sling the body, an artifice not present in the production of archaic bronzes, gives the vase a more contemporary appearance.
Compare to a pale green and russet jade vase in the Palace Museum in Beijing with the same shape and a related decoration (Jade in the Collection of the Palace Museum. Classics of the Forbidden City, Beijing 2013., n. 182).
