This blue and white moon flask is of ovoid form with a cylindrical neck flanked by a pair of ruyi-form handles where the neck meets the shoulder. The body is decorated overall in underglaze blue, with a central vajra (thunderbolt) motif encircled by eight lotus panels, each enclosing one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems. Beginning at the six o’clock position and proceeding clockwise, they comprise the wheel, conch, umbrella, canopy, flower, vase, fish, and endless knot. The underglaze blue has been skilfully applied to emulate the characteristic ‘heaped and piled’ effect seen on early 15th-century blue and white wares. The form ultimately derives from metalwork examples introduced to China from Central Asia.

This classic moonflask form is known as baoyue ping in Chinese, so named because the large neck and foot appear to support the central body like a full moon. Blue and white moonflasks of early Qianlong date are known in two principal sizes: a larger type, typically around 50 cm. in height, which is more common, and a smaller, rarer type exemplified by the present piece at approximately 35 cm. high. A closely related example, formerly in the Manno Art Museum collection, was sold at Christie’s London, 21 June 2001, lot 106.