Lot 214. A rare carved 'Yaozhou' celadon-glazed 'Peony' vase, Song dynasty (960-1279). Height 7 3/8  in., 18.7 cm. Estimate 40,000 —60,000 USD. Sold Price: 56,250 USD © Sotheby's 2018.

the teardrop-shaped body set over a low foot and rising to a narrow, waisted neck broadening toward the rim, freely carved all around with a long peony stem undulating around the body and issuing slender shoots of new growth coiling up the neck, clusters of curling leaves peeling from each branch and framing resplendent blossoms of various sizes, fine-combed incisions delicately detailing the leaves and petals, all above a double band of upright petals, covered overall in a translucent olive-green glaze suffused with craquelure.

Note: he present vase is striking for its elegant proportions and the lively calligraphic gestures of its lines. It belongs to a small group of carved 'peony' bottle vases produced at the Yaozhou kilns in the Northern Song dynasty. Vases of this type include a nearly identical example in the collection of the MOA Museum of Art, Atami, Japan, published in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1997, cat. no. 35; a closely related example but with a double band of stylized petals at the neck sold in our London rooms, 11th May 2011, lot 2; a second vase of that design sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 6th April 2015, lot 147; a slightly larger example set on a spreading foot is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, coll. no. C810-1936; and another of that form is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., acc. no. F.1919.90.

A rare carved Yaozhou pear-shaped vase, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 7 3/4 in. (17.7 cm.) high. Sold for 1,240,000 HKD t Christie's Hong Kong, 6th April 2015, lot 147. © Christie's Images Ltd 2015

Cf. my post: A rare carved Yaozhou pear-shaped vase, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)

Vase, carved and glazed stoneware, Yaozhou ware, China, Northern Song dynasty, 1000-1127, C.810-1936. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017.

Vase, Stoneware with celadon glaze, Yaozhou ware,Northern Song dynasty, 11th-early 12th century, Freer Gallery of Art, F1919.90 © 2018 Smithsonian Institution.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 12 sept. 2018, 10:30 AM