A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'FIGURES AND LANDSCAPE' SQUARE JARDINIEREKangxi six-character mark and of the periodRaised on fourruyi supports, the sides flaring outward at the corners and each finely painted with a different scene, one with two scholars leaning on a pine tree as they converse near a waterfall, the other three with river landscapes, all below the flat everted rim with indented corners painted with cranes graspinglingzhi in their beaks as they fly amidst clouds between the spreading peach-laden branches at the corners, the reign mark painted on the underside of the rim, box.36.3cm (14 1/4in) squareProvenance: 清康熙 青花山水人物圖四方花盆青花「大清康熙年製」橫書楷款Provenance:A North-American Chinese family collection, acquired by the grandfather of the owners then, Whampoa, Guangdong, circa 1890-1920s, thence by descent within the familyChristie's New York, 15 September 2009, lot 433來源：北美華人家族舊藏，由藏家祖父於1890-1920年代在廣東黃埔購得，後由其家族傳承紐約佳士得，2009年9月15日，拍品433A nearly identical Kangxi mark and period blue and white jardinière is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, museum image no.:K1B009380N000000000PAB; see also a closely related example in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Shunzhi Kangxi Chao Qinghuaci, Beijing, 2005, no. 336.盆方口折沿，四角內委，深壁微下斂，四如意雲形足。折沿上繪桃葉桃實，四面以山水人物景致為飾，層巒疊嶂，富層次感，青花鮮麗明爽。胎骨厚重，器內及底露胎，外底有火石紅，設二圓形滲水孔，折沿下方青花橫書「大清康熙年製」楷款一行。此四方花盆青花呈色淡雅，畫面構圖疏朗。康熙時期的瓷花盆多為青花及五彩大型器皿，之後的雍正、乾隆兩朝似乎少見燒製，原因或與瓷花盆可持續使用的特性有關。清乾隆六年（1741）丁觀鵬等人畫〈十八學士圖卷〉（故畫01555），畫中黑地金彩的漆方几上置有四方型、雲頭足的青花花盆，形似本拍品。兩岸故宮皆有近例，見一康熙款青花瓷山水人物四方花盆，國立故宮博物院，臺北，文物圖檔編號：K1B009380N000000000PAB；及另一類近北京故宮藏四方花盆，載於陳潤民編，《故宮博物院藏清代瓷器類選，第一卷：清順治康熙朝青花瓷》，北京，2005年，編號336。