A LARGE PUCE-GROUND 'SLEEPING TEACHER & MISCHIEVOUS BOYS' VASE, LATE QING TO REPUBLIC PERIOD China, 1850-1949. The baluster sides rising from a thick tall foot to a waisted neck with flared rim. The exterior is finely painted in bright enamels against a puce ground with a charming and humorous scene of an elderly scholar who has fallen asleep at his desk and the chaos ensuing around him. One boy is standing behind the scholar on his chair, removing his hat, while another holds up a rod with a small spider attached to it in an effort to frighten the poor teacher once he awakes. The base and interior glazed turquoise.

Inscriptions: To one side, 'The children bring happiness and joy. They laugh and sing and celebrate the new year.'

Provenance: Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 8 January 2005, lot 109 (invoice not available, old label to interior). A Scottish private collection, acquired from the above, and thence by descent.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and minimal firing irregularities only. Must be considered extremely rare in this splendid state of preservation.

Weight: c. 7.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 45 cm

Further boys are seen idling about or playing games, while one particularly studious child sits at a desk much like his master's, holding a brush and showing a pensive expression, and another is leafing through a book from a pile on a stand in front of him. The back with a poetic inscription. The recessed base with an apocryphal iron-red gilt-ground four-character mark Qianlong nianzhi.

Expert's note: Most porcelain vases painted with the 'boys' motif use this subject to reference a certain festivity, such as the New Year or the Dragon Boat Festival. The present lot, however, lacks any such allusions and instead offers a humorous and very lifelike scene of children running amok in the absence of an attentive guardian, and is thus much rarer than comparable examples.



清末民初胭脂紅地粉彩《稚子拈吉祥》瓶
中國，1850-1949年。瓶口外撇，束頸，溜肩，豐胸圓腹，圈足。胎質堅實。胭脂紅彩地，粉彩描繪書院小孩童們趁夫子瞌睡之際一旁玩鬧戲耍，天真活潑。人物刻畫細膩傳神，一個男童站在夫子身後，正摘下他的帽子（圖 1）；而另一個男孩則舉起一根綁著一隻小蜘蛛（圖 2）的杆子，打算嚇唬父子。色彩雅麗。瓶内與圈足内施松石綠色釉。

款識：稚子拈吉祥，染翰作屏圖，和風徊笑語，齊歌樂嵗詩

來源：蘇格蘭私人收藏，購於英國愛丁堡Lyon & Turnbull拍賣行，2005年1月8日，lot 109 (發票遺失，瓶内標簽)，保存至今。
品相：狀況極好，輕微磨損，輕微燒製瑕疵。

重量：約7.2公斤
尺寸：高45 厘米

圈足内描金鐵紅“乾隆年製”四字款。

專家注釋：很多以“嬰戲圖”為主題的陶瓷器皿與某個節日相聯繫，例如新年或端午節。 然而，本拍品沒有任何此類典故，而是提供了一個幽默活潑的場景，即孩子們在學校裏嬉戲搗亂的場景，因此比同類例子少得多。