Lot 3625. An extremely rare gold and silver-decorated 'bronze-imitation' archaistic vase, zun, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795);  13.5 cm., 5 1/4  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 (23,344 - 35,016 EUR). Lot sold 1,125,000 HKD (129,325 EUR). Photo Sotheby's

of archaistic zun form, with a flattened pear-shaped body raised on a splayed foot, set with two mythical animal handles, finely decorated in simulation of an archaic bronze, each side moulded with four panels centred with a small diamond cartouche, each panel enamelled in two tones of gold with archaistic motifs, below a border around the neck enclosing two pairs of archaistic dragons flanking a shou character and reserved on a turquoise ground evoking malachite encrustation, the neck and foot further decorated with archaistic motifs, the base enamelled in gold and inscribed with a gilt six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Collection of W.W. Winkworth (1897-1991).

Notes: The present vase is extremely rare and no similar example appears to be recorded. It is remarkable for its gorgeous gilt decoration. Imitations of other materials were a challenge taken up by the Jingdezhen potters in the Yongzheng reign (1723-35) to display the great potential of their craft and appear to have pleased the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95) in particular. Among the many simulations created by the imperial workshops for the Qianlong Emperor, those imitating archaic bronzes appear to have been the most popular. Ritual bronze vessels particularly of the late Shang (c.1600-c.1050 BC) and Western Zhou (c.1050-771 BC) periods, which the Emperor equally collected, inspired precise trompe-l'oeil copies as well as 'modern' interpretations, like the present vase. Bronzes were simulated through a variety of glazes, typically a brown of 'café-au-lait' or 'tea-dust' type heightened with gold, and this was often combined with a mottled turquoise or green glaze to evoke the blue-green patina of ancient metalwork. The form of the current vase closely resembles that of the early bronzes, such as one zun with the inscription fu ji (‘father ji’) attributed to the Shang dynasty, recorded in Xiqing gujian[Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], the illustrated catalogue of the imperial collection of archaic bronzes, vol. 8, p. 9 (fig. 1).

Line drawing of bronze zun vessel inscribed fu ji. After: Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], vol. 8, p. 9.

Compare a gu and a bell simulating bronzes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Periods from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pls. 95-96. For another porcelain gu see Zhou Lili, Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: Qing Dynasty Imperial Porcelain from the Yongzheng to Xuantong Period, Shanghai, 2014, pl. 3-64.

For comparable examples sold at auction, see another Qianlong reign-marked gold-ground vase, also from the collections of W.W. Winkworth and Gerard Hawthorn, sold in these rooms, 5th October 2011, lot 1949. Compare also a robin’s egg-ground gilt-decorated archaistic vase, formerly in the collections of Lord Loch of Drylaw (1827-1900), Alfred Morrison (1821-97) of the Fonthill House, and J.T. Tai & Co., sold at Christie's London, 18th October 1971, lot 52, and again in these rooms, 7th October 2010, lot 2128. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 07 oct. 2015, 02:30 PM