A Rare 'Ru'-Type Archaistic Vase (Hu) Qianlong Seal Mark And Period. photo Sotheby's

of sturdily potted hexagonal form, the waisted neck rising to an everted rim flanked by a pair of tubular handles, all above a raised splayed foot, covered overall with a soft grayish-blue glaze; height 13 3/4 in., 35 cm. Estimate 150,000—200,000 USD. Lot Sold  812,500 USD to Shanghai Tianwuguan Art Fund

PROVENANCE: Osaka Bijutsu Club auction, 14th - 16th December 1934, lot 802.
Yamanaka Shoten Collection.

NOTE: Compare a very similar vase also with an underglaze-blue Qianlong seal mark, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 50.

See also an almost identical vase illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1956, fig. 46. Another ru-type vase of the same form but with a Yongzheng mark in the Palace Museum collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 204.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 23 Mar 11. New York www.sothebys.com