Lot 1932. A rare celadon-glazed octogonal jar and cover, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 14 cm., 5 1/2 in. Estimate 800,000-1,200,000 HKD (77,125 — 115,687 EUR). Lot Sold: 1,040,000 HKD (100,262 EUR). Photo Sotheby's

of rectangular cross-section with canted corners, the straight sides curving gently inward towards the short straight neck of conforming shape, the shoulders flanked by a pair of small loop handles, the cover of similar form surmounted by a further loop handle, covered overall with a light celadon glaze thinning at the edges, the underside inscribed with an underglaze blue six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27th April 2003, lot 262.

Note: Yongzheng jars of this elegant octagonal form are rare and this jar is unusual for its subtle tapering form. A related Yongzheng jar with straight sides is illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng.Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 274, pl. 103; a pair was sold in these room, 5th November 1996, lot 847, and is now in the Meiyintang Collection, published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 2010, vol. 4, no. 1805.

Compare a Qianlong mark and period jar of similar form and size but much less finely modelled and handles left not pierced, included in the  Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum , National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 100.

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