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Lot Essay
The motif of squirrels with trailing grape vines is considered auspicious as it may represent a wish for progeny and ceaseless generations of sons and grandsons. Compare to a cloisonné enamel hu vase, inscribed with a Jingtai mark but dated to the second half of the 16th century, decorated with a grape vine band around the neck and two pairs of dragons to the body, illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonné, The Pierre Uldry Collection, 1989, no. 118.
A slightly larger example (42.2 cm. high) of almost identical shape and decoration was sold at Christie's New York, 29 March 2006, lot 296.
This animated theme is also seen on contemporaneous wares of different media, such as a Kangxi-marked double-gourd vase painted in cobalt blue with squirrels and grape vines in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 20; a parcel-gilt bronze oval seal box, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2250; and a rhinoceros horn libation cup, also carved with grapes and squirrels, sold at Christie's London, 8 November 2011, lot 34.
A slightly larger example (42.2 cm. high) of almost identical shape and decoration was sold at Christie's New York, 29 March 2006, lot 296.
This animated theme is also seen on contemporaneous wares of different media, such as a Kangxi-marked double-gourd vase painted in cobalt blue with squirrels and grape vines in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 20; a parcel-gilt bronze oval seal box, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2250; and a rhinoceros horn libation cup, also carved with grapes and squirrels, sold at Christie's London, 8 November 2011, lot 34.