Lot 1044. A small parcel-gilt bronze gu-form vase, 16th-17th century; 7 in. (17.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 50,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014 

The trumpet-shaped neck is cast in low relief with four upright blades filled with detached taotie elements and a cicada, the mid-section with two taotie masks divided and separated by keyfret-incised flanges, and the tall, spreading foot with four pendent blades, all richly gilded against a cell diaper ground. A gilt band of key fret is at the rim. A six-character maker's mark, Yunjian Hu Wenming, is inside the foot.

Provenance: Colonel Robert Coleman Hall Brock (1861-1909) and Alice Gibson (1861-1925), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Henry Gibson Brock (1886-1940) and Margaret Cust Burgwin (1926-1961) Collection, Muncy, Pennsylvania, and thence by descent within the family.

Note: Compare the similar beaker vase of somewhat larger size (7½ in.) incised with a Hu Wenming zhi mark inside the foot illustrated by P. Moss in Emperor, Scholar, Artisan, Monk, Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1984, pp. 268-69, no. 123, where it is dated Wanli period, ca. 1600.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 18 - 19 September 2014