Lot 164. A fine celadon-glazed 'double gourd' vase, Jiaqing six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1796-1820); 12 ¾ in. (32.4 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 50,000 - GBP 80,000. Price realised GBP 62,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

The elegant vase is covered in a glaze of pale sea-green tone ending in a neat line at the slightly rounded, unglazed foot encircling the countersunk base which is also covered in a celadon glaze, hongmu stand with John Sparks Ltd. label.

Provenance : John Sparks Ltd., London, according to label.
Property from a private English collection, acquired in the 1970s.

Note: Double-gourd vases are also known as dajiping 'vase of good fortune', as the double gourd, or bottle gourd, symbolises fertility and good fortune. The shape and glaze colour of the present vase and related pieces appear to be a Qing interpretation of earlier Longquan celadon double-gourd vases from the Song dynasty, such as the example illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 166, no. 484.

Vases of this type are more commonly seen with Qianlong marks and of the period (1736-1795) and would originally have been made with a matching cover. See for example, a vase and cover from the Qianlong period included in the exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1992, p. 345, no. 212. Another double-gourd vase with its original small cover from the Jingguantang Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 571, and again 28 October 2002, lot 723. Qianlong examples without covers include one from the Zande Lou collection, illustrated in Qing Imperial Monochromes: The Zande Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 118, no. 42; one included in the Exhibition of Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong Reigns, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, no. 69; and one illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 106. See, also, the vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3308; and another from the Gordon Collection sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1135.

 A rare example with Jiaqing mark and of the period was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 683.