Lot 62. An extremely rare blue and white archaistic vase, zun, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 45cm (17 3/4in) high. Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 (€18,000 - 24,000). Sold for £ 30,000 (€ 33,672). Photo Bonhams.

Of archaistic form, the design inspired by ancient bronze vessels, with four arresting taotie masks painted around the body, surrounded by a continuous design of chilong, stylised rabbits and deer and crescent moons separated by a pattern of flanges with angled edges, flanked on both sides by an archaistic loop handle. 

Note: The taste for archaism had already been established since the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127), but it was the Qing court in the late 17th and 18th centuries that saw the most widespread and varied use of archaistic designs. The shape and pattern of the present lot has clear links with China's ancient antiquity, and is a reflection of the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors' taste.

A near-identical vase, but with a six-character Kangxi mark, and of the period, is in the Palace Museum collection in Beijing; and according to the scholar Chen Runmin, these vases are extremely rare. See Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghua ci, Beijing, 2005, p.473, pl.304 (see fig.1).

This vase in turn had a strong influences on cloisonné enamel in the 18th century. A cloisonné enamel vase, Qianlong period, from a private collection is similarly decorated (see fig.2 in the catalogue).

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, London, New Bond Street, 15 May 2014