Lot 3327. A fine and very rare celadon-glazed double-gourd vase and cover, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). Estimate: HKD 2,000,000 - HKD 3,000,000 (USD 259,015 - USD 388,523). Price Realised HKD 5,100,000 (USD 660,592) © Christie’s Images Limited 2016.

The vase is well potted with a compressed globular lower bulb rising from the countersunk base to a slightly smaller globular upper bulb, surmounted by a long narrow mouth. The fitted cover is potted with a short stem. Both are covered with a soft celadon glaze. 14 in. (35.5 cm.) high, box

Notes: Double-gourd vases are also known as dajiping 'vase of good fortune', as the double gourd, or bottle gourd, symbolises fertility and good fortune. It is very rare to find double-gourd vases with original covers. A similar vase and cover was included in the exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1992, p. 345, no. 212. Another double-gourd vase with its original small cover from the Jingguantang Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 571, and again 28 October 2002, lot 723. Examples without covers include one from the Zande Lou collection, illustrated in Qing Imperial Monochromes: The Zande Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 118, no. 42; one included in the Exhibition of Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong Reigns, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, no. 69; and one illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 106. See, also, the vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3308; and another from the Gordon Collection sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1135.

 A fine celadon-glazed double-gourd vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795). Price Realized HK$1,600,000 ($207,268) at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3308. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2014

(Cf. A fine celadon-glazed double-gourd vase , Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)

A celadon-glazed double-gourd vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795). Price Realized USD 602,500 at Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1135. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011

With bulbous lower body and upper body tapering to a narrow neck, the exterior covered in a glaze of pale sea-green color ending in a neat line at the slightly rounded, unglazed foot encircling the countersunk base also covered in a celadon glaze - 13 in. (33 cm.) high 

The shape and colour of the glaze of the present vase and related pieces appear to be a Qing interpretation of earlier Longquan celadon double-gourd vases from the Song dynasty, such as the example illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 166, no. 484.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 November 2016, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall