Lot 1935. A teadust-glazed 'double-gourd' vase, Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 26.1 cm., 10 1/4 in. Estimate 1,200,000-1,500,000 HKD (115,687 — 144,609 EUR). Lot Sold: 1,460,000 HKD (140,752 EUR). Photo Sotheby's

well potted with a globular lower bulb rising to a fluted waist cinched with a raised ring, below a pear-shaped upper bulb tapering to a slender neck, flanked by a pair of 'S'-shaped handles joining the two bulbs, terminating in moulded trefoils, covered in an opaque mottled olive-green glaze, the foot covered in a brown wash and the base incised with a six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Hirano Kotoken, Osaka.

Note: This teadust glaze was one of the innovations of the Yongzheng period, when many ancient ceramic techniques were revived. Similar glazes had been produced by various kilns of northern China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). A closely related example is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, vol. I, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 80; one included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 701; another illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 938; and a fourth example in the Nanjing Museum, published in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 349.

See also a vase of this type from the British Rail Pension Fund, sold in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 55; one sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2007, lot 817; and a third example sold in these rooms, 10th April 2006, lot 1619.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong. 05 Oct 2011