Lot 918. A peachbloom-glazed amphora, liuye zun, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722); 6 ¼ in. (15.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 425,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2016

The vase has an elegant, tapering, high-shouldered body covered in a glaze of crushed-strawberry-red color with some areas of pale green mottling. The lower body is fitted with a gilt-metal band, which extends past the foot. 

Provenance: Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952) Collection.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accessioned in 1950.

Note: The shape of this vase is sometimes described as Guanyin ping, referring to the shape of the vase held by many figures of Guanyin, and said to contain ambrosia or magic elixir. It is also known as liuye zun, 'willow-leaf vase', owing to its elegant form which resembles that of a willow leaf. It is one of the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', eight specific vessels covered in a peachbloom glaze. 

Similar examples are in major institutions worldwide including the Palace Museum, Beijing; the Shanghai Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; the National Palace Museum, Taipei; and the Baur Collection, Geneva. See, also, the example sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1233.

Christie's. Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 September 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza