Lot 740. A teadust-glazed fanghu-form vase, 18th-19th century; 14 ½ in. (36.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 43,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019

The broad tapering neck is molded with three bands and applied with narrow vertical flanges centered on all four sides, and is flanked by a pair of mythical-beast-form handles with a single horn and long tail on the shoulder. The vase is covered overall with a finely speckled yellowish-olive glaze thinning to russet on the raised areas.

Provenance: Emily Crane Chadbourne (1871–1964) Collection, Chicago, before 1939.
The Art Institute of Chicago, accessioned in 1939.

Note: This unusual shape appears to be based on Song dynasty Longquan celadon prototypes with lug handles rather than beast-form handles, such as the example from the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 159, no. 277. The Longquan celadon vases are themselves based on early bronze hu with lug handles and narrow flanges dividing the bands of decoration, which on the present vase are represented by the molded bands on the neck. For a Shang-dynasty bronze example, see the hu in the British Museum, illustrated by W. Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, London, 1962, pl. 5.

Christie's. Chinese Art from The Art Institute of Chicago, New York, 12 September 2019