A magnificent and very rare large celadon-glazed carved moon flask, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). Estimate $1,000,000 – $1,500,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The elegantly potted body is raised on a rounded rectangular foot and is decorated in low-relief on both sides with dense, leafy lotus scroll, repeated on the neck between the pair of chilong-form handles, and below a band of classic scroll at the lipped rim. The vase is covered in an even glaze of soft blue-green tone. 17 ¾ in. (45.2 cm.) high

Provenance: Mary Eddy Jones (1902-2000), Oklahoma, acquired in 1950s-60s, and thence by descent within the family.

Marylin Jones Jarmin, Mary Eddy Jones and Mr. Henry Ford II, at the opening of the Ford Motor Company Glass Factory, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1975.

Notes: In the 18th century, the Jingdezhen imperial kilns devoted considerable research and development to the production of celadon glazes applied to a white porcelain body. In the Qianlong reign, these fine celadon glazes were sometimes used on undecorated pieces - the perfection of the glaze enhancing the elegance of the form. However, celadon glazes were also applied to porcelain vessels with low relief surface decoration, which had become somewhat bolder and more formal in the Qianlong reign. The present vase is an excellent example of the refined effect that could be created by the use of the carved decoration on a monochrome porcelain vessel. 

No other celadon-glazed Qianlong-marked moonflask of this size and particular shape appears to have been published. However, a blue and white moonflask of similar size and shape, also decorated with lotus scrolls and withchilong handles, and with Qianlong seal mark, is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art; Chinese Ceramics IV; Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 74. Compare, also the unmarked Qianlong period blue and white moonflask with lotus-scroll decoration on the body and petal lappets on the neck from the Huaihaitang Collection exhibited at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ethereal Elegance - Porcelain Vases Of The Imperial Qing - The Huaihaitang Collection, November 2007-March 2008 and illustrated in the catalogue, p. 280, no. 94. Another similar example, but with a Yongzheng mark, was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, Hong Kong, 16 May 1977, lot 93.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 17 - 18 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza