Lot 3018. A superb and fine celadon-glazed 'Lotus and Chrysanthemum' incised vase, hu. Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 45.7 cm., 18 in. Estimate 6,000,000 — 8,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 10,240,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's

superbly potted, of hexagonal section elegantly rising from a splayed foot to an angled shoulder, sweeping up to a waisted neck and flared rim, flanked by a pair of tubular lug handles, deftly incised on each side with two varieties of lotus wreathed in dense radiating foliage, between feathery scrolls centred with large chrysanthemum heads on the neck and further chrysanthemum sprays around the foot, the lugs picked out with florets, applied overall with a pale sea-green glaze thinning to white along the edges and pooling to a darker tone within the incisions, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th November 1981, lot 323 

Note: Vases of this form are based on the archaic bronze vessel, hu, and were first produced in the Yongzheng period, enjoying heightened popularity during the Qianlong reign. They were decorated in a range of glazes inspired by the celebrated wares of the Song dynasty; however it is extremely uncommon to find examples with incised decoration. The lotus design on the present vase is reminiscent of the more complexly rendered lotus scroll bands that adorned vases of this same form in cobalt, for example see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 68, which features a lotus scroll encircling the body and lower half of the neck, and a crashing wave band around the middle of the neck. 

The combination of the outlined design on a translucent celadon ground may have been inspired by rare ‘wintergreen’ glazed bowls incised with similar decoration, attributed to the 15th century; see a bowl included in the Min Chiu Society Exhibition of Monochrome Ceramics of the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 56, and sold three times in our rooms, most recently in these rooms, 30thApril 1996, lot 355.