In both its form and painted motif, as well as its simulation of the 'heaped and piled' technique to render the design, this moonflask immediately references China’s glorious porcelain tradition. The flattened form with the raised medallion is modelled after early 15th century flasks, that were in turn inspired Middle-Eastern metal prototypes, while the design is reminiscent of an early-Ming Buddhist motif of a double vajra surrounded by eight-petal panels containing the bajixiang. Interestingly, in the Qing version the order of the bajixiang has been slightly altered, with the twin-fish emblem appearing before the knot and after the vase emblem.

While flasks of this type are numerous, the present piece is particularly unusual for its size, the form of its handles and the raised rib on the neck; similar examples include one sold in our London rooms, 13th May 1969, lot 137; another from the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie’s London, 21st June 2001, lot 106; and a third one sold in our Paris rooms, 12th December 2013, lot 144, and again in these rooms, 3rd October 2017, lot 3688. Compare also larger flasks of related form and design, such as one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, vol. II, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 5; two published in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu collects ion, Tokyo, 1987, pls 949 and 950, the latter lacking the Qianlong reign mark; another in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, illustrated in Zhongguo lidai Jingdezhen ciqi: Qing juan [Chinese ceramics from Jingdezhen through the ages: Qing dynasty], Beijing, 1998, p. 169; and a pair sold in our London rooms, 15th May 2013, lot 222 (fig. 1).

For the prototype of this motif, see a blue and white basin attributed to the Yongle reign, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (accession no. B60P33+), illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, New York, 1996, pl. 398.

此青花扁壺屬乾隆年器並款，中央飾十字杵，外環飾八片蓮瓣，瓣中飾八吉祥紋。巧以青花點苔，模擬十五世紀初之青花黑疵。

此類扁壺雖然並不鮮見，但如此尺寸、瓶頸飾弦紋及如意耳者較罕，類例可參見倫敦蘇富比1969年5月13日，編號137。萬野美術館舊藏有例，後售於倫敦佳士得2001年6月21日，編號106。還有一例，兩度售於蘇富比，分別為巴黎2013年12月12日，編號144﹐及香港2017年10月3日，編號3688。較大之扁壺，則可參見台北故宮博物院藏器，收錄於《故宮清瓷圖錄》，卷2，東京，1981年，圖版5。且有兩例，見《中国陶磁 : 出光美術館藏品圖錄》，東京，1987年，圖版949及950，後者無款。南京博物院還有一例，刊於《中國歷代景德鎮瓷器：清卷》，北京，1998年，頁169。倫敦蘇富比曾拍出一對，2013年5月15日，編號222（圖一）。

十字杵蓮瓣八吉祥紋之雛型，可參見舊金山亞洲藝術博物館永樂青花八吉祥紋盆（編號B60P33+），見賀利，《Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco》，紐約，1996年，圖版398。