Lot 3051. A large Guan-type vase, hu, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 52.8 cm., 20 7/8  in. Estimate 1,500,000 - 2,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,760,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013

well potted, the rounded sides rising steeply from a slightly splayed foot to an angular shoulder, sweeping up to a waisted neck and a flared rim, set with two tubular lug handles above a raised fillet, applied overall with an unctuous caesious-coloured glaze suffused with a network of fine crackles and thinning to grey around the edges of the handles, save for the footring left unglazed and dressed in a brown wash in imitation of the Song dynasty Guan ware, the interior and the base glazed, the latter inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st May 2001, lot 525

NOTE: This elegant vase embodies two celebrated traditions of Chinese craftsmanship in its robust form which is softened through its luminous bluish glaze. In its form it has been inspired by the archaic bronze ritual vessel, hu, while its glaze is closely modelled on the prized Ru ware of the Song dynasty. The crackled wares of guan, Ge and Ru of the Song period were highly regarded by the Qianlong Emperor who not only collected them but also commissioned the making of new porcelain with similar glaze from the imperial kilns for his appreciation. The present vase is an outstanding example of the high quality of such wares produced in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen during his reign.

A closely related vase was sold in our New York rooms, 17th September 1998, lot 235; another was sold in these rooms, 29thNovember 1977, lot 121, and again in our London rooms, 17th December 1996, lot 139; and a third was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 2010. Compare a Qianlong vase of this form but covered in a Ge-type glaze, sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September 2004, lot 315; and a vase of similar form but without handles, sold in our London rooms, 13th May 2009, lot 214. Blue and white decorated vases of this form are also known, such as one of slightly smaller size, sold in these rooms, 16th May 1977, lot 90, and included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette. Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 63; and another sold in these rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1604.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013