Famille Rose Vase Decorated with Floral Medallions and Gourd Vines

Butterflies are hiding all over this vase. Some rest on the garlic-shaped mouth, some drift among the peonies on the round belly. How many did you spot?

Made in the Qianlong reign (1736–1795), when famille rose painting reached its most delicate. The enamel lets each peony petal fade from deep pink to almost white, and the butterflies' wings are shaded rather than outlined.

Look at the details: an iron-red and gilt key-fret at the lip, three fine bands with a gilt sgraffiato ring at the waist, a blue ruyi-cloud collar on the shoulder, and two moulded ruyi handles curling down like clouds. The base carries a six-character Da Qing Qianlong Nian Zhi seal mark.

Famille Rose is an overglaze enamel decoration technique that first emerged during the late Kangxi period (1662–1722) and attained full technical and artistic maturity under the Yongzheng Emperor (1723–1735). Distinguished by the application of an opaque white enamel, known as "Glassy White" (boli bai), as an undercoat, the technique produces a soft, luminous palette and allows for subtle tonal gradations through meticulous shading.

The gourd-shaped vase with ruyi-shaped handles combines the auspicious symbolism of the gourd (hulu), traditionally associated with blessings, prosperity, and longevity, with the ruyi motif, an emblem of good fortune and the fulfilment of wishes. This elegant vessel type was especially favoured during the Qianlong reign (1736–1795), a period widely regarded as the zenith of Famille Rose porcelain in both technical sophistication and artistic achievement.

The mouth rim is decorated with a double iron-red key-fret border, finely outlined in gilt, a standard motif of Qing imperial porcelain symbolizing continuity. The garlic-shaped neck is painted with two finely rendered Famille Rose butterflies amid blooming peonies, their delicately shaded wings exemplifying the naturalistic yangcai style of the Qianlong period. The constricted neck is encircled by three ornamental bands, culminating in a finely executed sgraffiato floral register enriched with gilt. A blue ruyi-cloud collar marks the shoulder, while the moulded ruyi-shaped handles, terminating in cloud-and-jewel finials, display seamless modelling and the exceptional craftsmanship of the Qing imperial kilns.

The finely painted floral and butterfly decoration, a traditional rebus symbolizing longevity, is executed with exceptional precision and an elegant colour palette. The design exemplifies the refined aesthetics and auspicious symbolism characteristic of Chinese Famille Rose porcelain.

The foot is neatly finished with a smoothly rounded profile, and the recessed base is coated in a lustrous white glaze with a warm ivory tone. The outer foot rim is encircled by a finely painted Famille Rose lotus-petal border, outlined in rouge-red and filled with yellow enamel, a characteristic decorative feature of Qianlong imperial porcelain. The narrow foot ring is left unglazed, revealing a dense, finely potted white body with a smooth, carefully polished surface. The base bears a six-character underglaze-blue seal mark in three vertical columns, Da Qing Qianlong Nian Zhi ("Made in the Qianlong Reign of the Great Qing"), executed in the standard seal-script format characteristic of the Qianlong imperial kilns.