Lot 111. A Guan-type archaistic vase, gu, Chenghua six-character mark and of the period;  15.9cm high. Sold for HK$ 687,500 (€66,289). Photo Bonhams 2014

The vase potted with a slightly compressed globular mid-section, rising from a waisted spreading foot to a tall neck and flaring mouth rim, decorated with four ridged columns simulating flanges, covered overall in a pale greenish-blue crackled glaze.

Glazes on porcelain such as Guanyao, which originated in the Song Dynasty, continued to be made at the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is however, very rare to find examples of Guanyao-type wares from the early Ming period. Archaic bronze shapes in ceramics, such as the gu form of the current lot, was frequently used during the Ming and Qing, thereby exemplifying the Imperial court's preoccupation for antiquity. While no exact example of a gu vase from the Chenghua period has been published, several early Ming gu form vases in different glazes have been published or sold through auction. For instance a larger sized Junyao gu vase, dated Yuan/early Ming dynasty and decorated with vertical flanges, is illustrated by Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford,1984, p.89, no.7; A rare Longquan celadon fluted gu vase, dated to late Yuan/early Ming, was sold at Christie's London, 3 November 2009, lot 195.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. Hong Kong, Admiralty, 26 May 2014