Lot 3305. A very rare celadon-glazed ewer, Yongzheng six-character seal mark and of the period (1723-1735); 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm.) high. Estimate HK$12,000,000 - HK$18,000,000 ($1,554,872 - $2,332,309). Price Realized HK$14,440,000 ($1,871,030). ©  Christie's Image Ltd 2014

Inspired by Near Eastern metalwork, the ewer is incised with a central floral scroll flanked by raised lines and moulded bands of petals at the shoulder and above the low splayed foot, the base of the slender neck with a further floral scroll between concentric bands, and the neck moulded with a central horizontal flange incised with stylised flowerheads, dividing pendent tasselled lappets and stiff leaves rising to the curved spout, covered inside and out with a pale celadon glaze thinning slightly at the extremities, Japanese wood box. 

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's New York, 15 June 1983, lot 316
The Estate of Ruth P. Phillips
Sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1312

Note: The distinctive shape of this ewer is modelled after an early Ming blue and white prototype, which in turn is based on Islamic metalwork, used originally as a hand-cleansing vessel before worship. On early Ming examples, the chased and inlaid decorations on Islamic metal vessels are recreated as painted motifs in underglaze blue, such as a Yongle blue and white handled ewer painted with floral scrolls in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 51. During the Qing dynasty, this was further re-interpreted in the form of blue and white and monochrome-glazed ewers like the present lot, either with or without handles.

Near identical ewers of this rare Islamic-influenced form include one in the Grandidier Collection in the Musee Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Kodansha Series, vol. 7, pl. 170; one in the Avery Brundage collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, San Francisco, 1996, pl. 544; one sold at Christie's London, 3 December 1973, lot 254, and illustrated by A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 217, fig. 9; and another from the Fuller Collection, sold at Christie's London, 28 June 1965, lot 98.

Compare with other ewers of this form covered in other glazes: a Yongzheng-marked teadust-glazed version from the Qing court collection is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 244; a white-glazed example, formerly from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, exhibited at Bluett and Sons in May 1973, and from the collection of Edward T. Chow, illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection, Vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 794; and a flambe-glazed one with a scrolled loop handle, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 21 May 1979, lot 101. A Yongzheng-marked ewer with similar motifs painted in blue and white is illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 108; together with another applied with a handle, pl. 109. Compare also a celadon example with a handle, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 May 1980, lot 80.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 28 May 2014