A flambe-glazed Pear-shaped Vase, fanghu. Incised Qianlong Mark And Period. Photo Sotheby's

the wide body tapering towards the quatrefoil mouth rim, moulded on each side with a raised peach-shaped panel, the neck applied with two rectangular lug handles, covered overall with an unctuous glaze of dark red streaked shades of lavender, the base with a pale brown wash covering the incised seal mark  30.3cm., 12in Estimate 60,000-80,000 GBP

NOTE: A closely related vase, sold in our New York rooms, 30th May 1990, lot 153, now in the Huaihaitang collection, was included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007, cat. no. 78; one, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 47, was sold at Christie's London, 18th June 2002, lot 220; another in the Capital Museum, Beijing, is published in Xiong Liao, Beauty of Ceramics. Gems of the Official Kilns, Taipei, 1993, pl. 146; and a fourth example is included in J.J. Marquet de Vessalot and M.J. Ballott, The Louvre Museum. Chinese Ceramics, Paris, 1922, pl. 35 (top). See also a vase sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2973; another sold in our New York rooms, 21st/22nd September 2005, lot 31; and a vase sold at Christie's New York, 17th September 2008, lot 521.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 09 Nov 2011 www.sothebys.com