Lot 3508. A fine Ru-type hexagonal vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), 47.5 cm., 18 5/8  in. Estimate 3,000,000 — 4,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,640,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of hexagonal form, robustly potted with rounded sides rising from a splayed foot to angular shoulders, sweeping up to a waisted neck and an everted lipped rim, the neck flanked by a pair of tubular lug handles, applied overall with an unctuous rich bluish-green glaze suffused with a fine network of crackles, save for the footring left unglazed and dressed in a brown wash, the countersunk base inscribed in underglaze-blue with a six-character seal mark, wood stand.

Provenance: An old Japanese collection.

Note: Deceptively simple in form and design, this vase forms a marked contrast to the richly ornamented decorative style that is generally associated with the Qianlong period, and is a fine example of the technical perfection achieved by craftsmen working at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. Monochrome vessels required the highest level of skill and precision in every stage of their production, from the purity of the clay and precision of the potting to the evenness of the glaze and control of the firing. The slightest irregularity would result in the rejection and destruction of the piece, thus pushing the craftsmen to the limits of their abilities, particularly in the production of large vessels such as the current vase. The subtle glaze has been created in imitation of Ru ware, one of the ‘five great wares’ of the Song period (960-1279) along with Ding, ge, guan and Jun. It reflects the Qing emperors’ penchant for these early wares, which they not only collected but also commissioned the imperial kilns to recreate or imitate. Even the unglazed foot has been stained with a brown wash to simulate its predecessors.

Smaller vases of this type include one sold in our New York rooms, 23rd March 2011, lot 736; and another sold in these rooms, 26th October 2003, lot 50. For the Yongzheng prototype, see a guan-type vase from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 204. Compare also an example sold in these rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1534.