The vase is decorated with the 'hundred deer' motif, depicting a continuous scene of deer frolicking in grassy meadows and beside a river, all within a rocky, mountainous landscape with pine trees, the shoulder flanked by a pair of coral-red, dragon-scroll handles. The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Qianlong seal mark.

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17³⁄₈ in. (44 cm.) high

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Lot Essay

The 'hundred deer' motif was very popular, as the landscape depicted contains important symbolic references. The subject of deer has a long history in Chinese art, as it refers to the rebus where the Chinese word for 'deer' is a homophone for 'emolument' or 'civil service salary'. The 'hundred deer' motif therefore represents the ultimate success, a career in government service in Imperial China.

A Qianlong-marked vase of larger size (45 cm.) in the Beijing Palace Museum, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 85. Other examples include a pair in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Hu, Shanghai, 1989, pl. 67; one in the Nanjing Museum, included in the joint exhibition with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Qing Imperial Porcelain, 1995, no. 86; and another from the Grandidier Collection in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, 1981, vol. 7, pl. 190. A Guangxu period (1875-1908) example was sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1272.