A FINE LARGE BLUE AND WHITE HU VASE WITH HANDLES SEAL MARK AND PERIOD...

A FINE LARGE BLUE AND WHITE HU VASE WITH HANDLES SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG modeled after a Han Dynasty archaic bronze vessel, the robust middle section meticulously painted in bright shades of cobalt blue with eight varieties of large peony blooms, each borned on a continuous scrolling tendril vine with attendant blooms, set between a ruyi head band draping the shoulders and a turbulent wave band around the base, the broad shoulders luted to the body with a subtle indentation sweeping up to a flaring neck flanked by a pair of tubular lug handles, the wave band decoration further repeated around the shoudlers, mouth and handles, with two registers of lotus flowers filling out the decoration around the neck, each containing scrolling foliate vines punctuated by large blooms, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue 52 CM., 20 1/2 IN.