A fine and rare Ge-type vase . Mark and period of Yongzheng. Photo Sotheby's

the robustly potted globular body rising to a short, waisted neck and an everted rim, set on the shoulders with moulded animal masks and mock ring handles, covered overall in a pale greenish-grey glaze with a striking network of dark-stained crackles, all supported on a low footring dressed in brown, inscribed on the base with an underglaze-blue reign mark, wood stand; 16.5 cm., 6 1/2 in. Estimate 4,000,000—6,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 7,220,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's London, 15th December 1981, lot 266.
Sotheby's New York, 3rd December 1986, lot 270.

EXHIBITED: Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 159.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 878.

NOTE: Another Qianlong vase of this design, from the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund has been sold in our London rooms, 28th November 1978, lot 198, and in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 56; another, sold in these rooms 22nd May 1984, lot 182, was included in the exhibition Selections of Chinese Art from Private Collections, China House Gallery, New York, 1986, cat. no. 9, from the collection of Mrs. A. Alfred Taubman.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains, 07 Apr 11, Hong Kong www.sothebys.com