the rounded sides rising from a spreading foot to a waisted neck and scalloped rim, the body carved with a wide band of lotus flowers borne on scrolling branches, between bands of plantain leaves, below a similar band at the neck and covered in a pale-blue glaze pooling to a deeper blue in the carved recesses.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 1994.

Note: This vase is remarkable for its brilliant translucent glaze, which has been thinly applied over a lively and freely carved floral motif. It is rare to find vases of this form in such good condition as the delicate foliate mouth would often result in damage through the ages. Furthermore, it retains the attractive glossy lustre of the glaze, the colour of which is accentuated through the pools that form in the carved design and edges of the form.

While vases of this complex shape were produced from the Northern Song period, those of this large size and with such deeply carved designs are unusual; compare a vase carved with peony illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, Tokyo, 1977, vol. 12, pl. 32; and another of slightly larger size and modelled with a slightly narrower neck, published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 1, pl. 608.

Created at the Raozhou kilns in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, qingbai ware, also known as yingqing, refers not to a geographic location as was typical with other wares, but to its appearance. Qing (green) and bai (white) denote the alluring pale blue-green tones of the glaze that so effectively complimented the white porcellaneous body beneath. This distinctive colour was achieved through reduction firing in a wood-fired kiln, a method that also created the russet markings under the foot where the body was left unglazed.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Londres, 08 nov. 2017, 11:00 AM