Lot 3220. An exceptional large blue and white ‘sanduo’ hexagonal vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). Estimate HK$10,000,000 – HK$15,000,000 (US$1,293,370 - $1,940,055). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The vase is painted on the facetted sides of the body in delicate shades of blue with sprays of pomegranate, peach and persimmon alternating with braches of peony, chrysanthemum and lotus, all springing from lingzhi fungi, the trumpet neck of conforming shape further painted with six detached composite floral sprays, all bordered by bands of keyfret and trefoil. 26 in. (66 cm.) high, box

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11 May 1983, lot 167
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 575

Notes: The current vase is particularly well painted and superbly potted amongst vases of this type. A comparable pair is displayed in the Chuxiu Gong, ‘Palace of Assembled Elegance’, in the Forbidden City, indicating that impressive and elegantly decorated vases of this type were made as display objects for the Imperial palace (fig. 1).

Fig. 1. View of the Chuxiu Gong, ‘Palace of Assembled Elegance’, in the Forbidden City.

Vases of this shape and decoration were first made in the Yongzheng reign. Refer for example to a Yongzheng-marked example in the collection of Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu - vol.15 - Qing Dynasty, Japan, 1983, p. 149, pl. 150. 

A Qianlong vase of this pattern is illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Qingdai bufen, fig. 146. Another is included in Selected Masterpieces of the Matsuoka Museum of Art, 1975, no. 102. 

Compare also to a very similar Qianlong vase, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 30 April 1991, lot 73, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 1920.

Christie's. THE IMPERIAL SALE / IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 1 June 2016, Convention Hall