A guan-type archaistic 'hu' vase with ram handles. Qianlong seal mark and period. Photo Sotheby's

of archaic bronze form, the pear-shaped body rising from a short spreading foot to a waisted neck with flaring rim, flanked by a pair of ram's head handles, the body decorated with pendent plantain leaves in low relief, the central axis of the shoulder and the foot set with vertical flanges, covered overall with a lustrous glaze of a greyish blue tone, draining to brown at the rims and the decoration, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark; 26.5cm., 10 1/2 in. Estimate 300,000—400,000 GBP. Lot Sold 825,250 GBP to an Asian Trade.

PROVENANCE: Collection of Shichiseki-Ou.
Osaka Bijutsu Club, 15th June 1937, lot 155.

NOTE: Made to imitate one of the most celebrated official ceramic wares of the Southern Song dynasty, the present vase reflects the Qianlong emperor's deep appreciation and respect for the past, together with his want for its preservation. These high-fired glazes were particularly popular in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods on vessels of archaistic forms, such as the present piece. The shape is taken from archaic bronzes, such as the Western Han example excavated from the tomb of the King of Nanyue, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian. Qingtongqijuan, Shanghai, 1995, cat. no. 1081; and a Western Zhou vessel included in William Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, London, 1962, pl. 53. See also a 'Guan' hu-shaped vase made for the court in the capital Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, moulded on each side with two stepped oval bosses and with two dragon-head handles, from the collection of Alfred Clark and included in the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition Ju and Kuan Wares, London, 1952, cat. no. 38, sold in these rooms, 25^th March 1975, lot 105. This 'Guan' vase may have served as the inspiration for Qing vases of this type.

While the shape of this piece is familiar, it is rare to find related vases with two ram-head handles and more common are those decorated with dragon handles or two zoomorphic ring handles. For example, see a teadust-glazed Qianlong mark and period vase included in Qingdai ciqi shangjian, Shanghai, 1994, pl. 196; and a lavender-glazed vase of closely related form with a pair of double loop handles issuing from projecting mythical animal heads, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 31^st October 1974, lot 177.

Ram-head handles are frequently found on globular form vases of the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods where they are placed at the shoulders; for example see a line drawing of this form included in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 235, fig. 401:13, where it is called sanxicun (vase of three beasts of uniform colour) referring to the kind of animals used in ritual offerings. See two vases covered in a Ru-type glaze, one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum: K'ang-hsi Ware and Yung-cheng Ware, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 129, and the other included in the Museum's Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, cat. no. 88.

Compare a celadon-glazed vase of closely related form to the present example, with a band of pendent cicada blades beneath the shoulder and with two dragon-head handles, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 28^th November 1978, lot 179; and another celadon vase with dragon-head handles, from the collection of Robert Chang, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2^nd November 1999, lot 504. A pair of vases attributed to the Kangxi period are also worth comparing, each of closely related form to this vase, decorated around the waisted neck with a band of upright stiff leaves and applied with mask and ring handles enamelled in black, sold in these rooms, 3^rd November 1987, lot 524.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 11 May 11, London www.sothebys.com