A pair of Chinese blue and white and iron-red double-gourd sectional wine warmers, ewers and covers

Mid-Qing dynasty, Yang he tang and apocryphal Yongzheng marks 

Each formed of a globular lower pot for hot water, flanked with animal mask handles at the shoulder, surmounted by a pear-shaped upper section terminating in a cylindrical insert to hold the wine to be warmed up, each section painted with bright cobalt billowing clouds and iron-red writhing dragons chasing flaming pearls, the globular lower body with a lappet band at the foot and a border of circular bosses at the mouth, the cylindrical insert, handle, spout and cover all with iron-red bats amongst underglaze blue clouds, one with apocryphal Yongzheng black-enamel six-character seal mark, the other with black enamel four-character mark within a double-square, each 19cm high (2).

Provenance: UK private collection. John Sparks paper label to base of one.

清中期 青花礬紅繪雲龍紋葫蘆式溫酒壺一對，墨彩篆書「大清雍正年製」寄托款、「養和堂製」款

來源：英國私人收藏。其中一件底部帶有John Sparks標籤。

Yanghe tang, or ‘Hall for cultivating Harmony’, was a hall within the Old Summer Palace, Yuanming Yuan, and a hallmark used from the Yongzheng to the Jiaqing period. Vessels of similar decoration and shape to the present lot started being produced during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, who was interested in Daoist rituals, which often involved alcoholic substances; the double-gourd shape of the present vessels would recall a wish to eternal life.

A similar wine warmer with the same hall mark, dated 18th/19th century, was sold by Christie’s New York, 18 September 2003, lot 321. Another similar, also with the same mark, but dated to the Qianlong period, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 16 June 1998, lot 259, and another larger example with a Yongzheng seal mark in black enamel was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25 October 1993, lot 828.

There are a number of known examples near-identical in shape, with underglaze copper-red and cobalt blue decoration of the Eight Immortals, but identical motifs on the handles and spout. Notably, one bearing Yongzheng mark and of the period, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no. 22.142.1a–c, illustrated by W. E. Cox, The Book of Pottery and Porcelain, vol. II, New York, 1949, vol. II, p. 587, fig. 872.

Two further examples of the same type, dated to the Qianlong reign, one with Gongshou tang zhi mark, the other with Qingyi tang zhi mark, were sold at Sotheby’s New York, respectively 11 September 2019, lot 609; and 15 March 2017, lot 521.