A fine and extremely rare flambé-glazed vase, Yongzheng four-character sealmark and of the period (1723-1735)
Lot 1369. A fine and extremely rare flambé-glazed vase, Yongzheng four-character sealmark and of the period (1723-1735); 8 in. (20.3 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 500,000 - HKD 700,000. Price realised HKD 2,248,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2006.
Of mallet-form with everted neck rising from broad shoulders well-moulded in relief with three equidistant ram heads above the truncated straight sides of the lower body, covered with a predominantly lustrous purple glaze with pale lavender-blue streaks, the glaze draining to a crackled pale ochre colour around the moulded ram heads and mouth rim, the countersunk base covered in a streaked mushroom-brown glaze, stand, Japanese box.
Provenance: A Japanese private collection.
Note: No other vase of this unusual shape and covered with a flambé glaze appears to be published.
The three ram's heads evenly spaced at the shoulder is most often found on hu-shaped vases with crackled glazes, such as the Yongzheng vase illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1976, fig. 45; and the Qianlong example from the Walters Collection, illustrated by S. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, London, col. pl. LXXVII. The only flambé version appears to be a Yongzheng-marked vase offered in these Rooms, 31 October 1994, lot 643.
Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 30 May 2006