Lot 43. A very rare lu Langyao slender baluster vase, China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722);  17 ½ in. (44.4 cm.) high. Estimate $50,000 – $70,000. Price Realized 221,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The elegant body tapering slightly towards the slightly spreading foot and towards the waisted neck and slightly spreading mouth, covered on the exterior with a pale celadon-green color suffused with a fine clear and golden crackle, wood stand 

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 1971.

Note: The name ‘Langyao’ or ‘Lang ware’ refers to certain porcelains which were made at the Jingdezhen imperial kilns under the supervision of Lang Tingji (1663-1718). Lang Tingji was Governor of Jiangxi province and concurrently supervisor of the Imperial kilns from 1705 to 1712 during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722). As he was only supervisor of the Imperial kilns for such a short time, it is impossible to be sure that a piece of porcelain was made during those seven years or whether it was made shortly thereafter probably by the same craftsmen, using the same technology. The name 'Langyao' (Lang wares) has been applied to several monochromes made under Lang Tingji’s supervision, and is most often applied to pieces with a bright copper-red glaze, but is also applied to related porcelains, such as the current vase, with more subtle copper-green (lu) glazes. 

The shape of the current vase, which is sometimes referred to as a ‘Guanyin vase’, is characteristic of Lang wares, and a copper red glazed Langyao vase of similar shape the current copper green vase is preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 37- Monochrome Porcelain , Hong Kong, 1999, p. 18, no. 15). A similarly shaped copper-red Langyao vase is also preserved in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei and is illustrated in Catalogue of A Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, p. 35, no. 1. A small water pot of green Langyao, from the Qing Court Collection, is preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing and illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, op. cit, p. 20, no. 17.

Christie's. THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH PART I - MASTERWORKS INCLUDING INDIAN, HIMALAYAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN WORKS OF ART, CHINESE AND JAPANESE WORKS OF ART, 17 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza