A Ge-type vase, hu, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)
Lot 1987. A Ge-type vase, hu, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 25 cm., 9 7/8 in. Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,800,000 HKD (115,687 — 173,530 EUR). Lot Sold 1,460,000 HKD (140,752 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.
of archaistic hu form, the ovoid body supported on a pronounced foot, decorated with two double-raised fillets, gently tapering to a waisted flared neck, flanked by a pair of animal mask and mock-ring handles at the shoulder, applied overall with a soft creamy grey glaze suffused with a matrix of dark and golden crackles stopping, the base similarly glazed and inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue, stand.
Note: In its glazing this vase was made to imitate one of the celebrated wares of the Song dynasty, 'Ge' ware, while its form derives from archaic bronze prototypes. The combination of a precious glaze and ancient form suggests a deep appreciation and respect for the past, together with the want for its preservation.
It is rare to find Yongzheng vases of this type, although a vase of the same size and form, but covered with a teadust glaze, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, in included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, vol. I, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 152. For a Qianlong example with a Guan-type glaze, see one sold in our London rooms, 1st/2nd April 1974, lot 254.
For the inspiration of the form of this vase, see the hu excavated from a Western Han tomb date before 179BC at Qianping, Yichang, Hubei province, illustrated in Kaogu xuebao, 1976, no. 2, p. 124, fig. 12.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong. 05 Oct 2011