A fine and rare Chinese mille fleurs wall vase

A fine and rare Chinese mille fleurs wall vase, with gilt animal mask handle to the waisted neck, the body finely painted with a multitude of garden flowers, the base with an iron red six character Qianlong seal mark and of the period 1736-95, the reverse and interior turquoise glazed, the rims gilded, 20.3cm. Together with a wood support. Provenance: From the collection of Victor Sullivan (d.1976) Victor Sullivan was a successful London businessman and a close personal friend of Herbert Cescinsky, the distinguished author of 'English Furniture of the 18th Century' and 'English Domestic Clocks' and 'Chinese Furniture', Cescinsky introduced him to the pre-eminent dealers of the day and through them he built his collection, buying only the finest and rarest examples. His collection of porcelain was acquired through Hancocks, Bluetts, Sparkes, Sydney Moss and Spinks. The decoration commonly known as 'Mille Fleurs' juxtaposes hundreds of chrysanthemums, peonies, lilies, convolvulus, roses, magnolias, irises, astas, begonias, camellias and many other flowers so that the porcelain surface is entirely covered, giving a tapestry-like effect becoming almost abstract. Eighteenth century examples are rare, the best known is the large Qianlong baluster vase, also with an iron red reign mark from the Grandidier Collection, formerly in the Louvre and which can now in the Muse national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet. Cf. La Chine des porcelaines. Cf. The Forbidden City, A Collection of Photographs by Hu Chui, no.48 for a view from the Inner Palace where a number of wall vases can be seen in situ.