Lot 322. An iron-red and gilt-decorated vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 17 1/2  in., 44.3 cm. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000 USD. Courtesy Sotheby’s.

the slender baluster body surmounted by a tall waisted neck with a knopped section and widely flaring at the rim, the neck richly ornamented with fine-lined plantain leaves crowning a series gilt-floral registers divided by keyfret bands, the shoulder wrapped in a broad collar of alternating pendent lappets and ruyi heads enclosing stylized flowerhead sprays reserved against a gilt ground, the waisted lower body with four phoenix medallions, the foot bordered with a band of gilt floral scrolls, the interior rim with a band of rosettes with wanzi centers against a spiral diaper ground, coll. no. 1489.

Property of The Jie Rui Tang Collection

Provenance: Christie’s London, 8th June 2004, lot 333.

Note: A related vase of a similarly undulating outline but lacking the bulbed neck and with the addition of pale green enamels from the Qing Court Collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong 1999, pl. 82. Other closely related vases of larger size with elongated necks, floral sprigs rather than crane medallions and lacking black enamels are known. One of this type from the collection of Augustus the Strong and listed in a 1721 inventory is illustrated in Walter Bondy, Kang-Hsi, Munich, 1925, p. 209.

Sotheby's. KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, New York, 20 March 2018, 11:00 AM