Lot 347. A ge-type petal-molded tripod octagonal bulb bowl, Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 9in. (22.8cm.) across. Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price Realized $7,170. © Christie's Image 2003

Made in imitation of a Song prototype, the flared body raised on three truncated supports and molded as eight petals rising to a flat everted rim, covered overall with a pale blue-grey glaze suffused with a crackle of dark grey, pale grey and golden brown color, with sixteen small psuedo spur marks in a circle on the base, the bottom of each leg covered with a brown wash

Provenance: Stephen Junkunc III. 

Notes: Qing dynasty bulb bowls of this form are based on Song prototypes, such as the brushwashers in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, 1989, nos. 135-43.

A ge-type tripod vessel of this kuihua or mallow blossom form, also with a Qianlong seal mark, was included in the exhibition, Important Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's, London, 2 - 14 June 1993, no. 62, and later sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 2 November 1999, lot 517. 

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 18 September 2003, New York, Rockefeller Plaza