Lot 412. A rare Dingyao octagonal vase, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 13.6 cm, 5 1/4  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000. Lot Sold 375,000 HKD (47,906 USD). © Sotheby's.

of octagonal section with tapered rounded sides and a short neck, set with four small loop handles, applied with a rich cream-white glaze with characteristic teardrops.

Note: Vases of this charming octagonal form, with four small handles at the shoulder, are an unusual product of the Dingyao kilns in Henan province and only a few related examples are known; a slightly smaller vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware, Beijing, 2012, pl. 37; another was sold twice at Christie's London, 12th October 1970, lot 84, and 5th April 1976, lot 11; a third with angular lugs handles, from the Carl Kempe collection, is illustrated in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 437; and a fourth example covered overall in a brown glaze, in the Meiyintang collection, is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. III, London, 2006, pl. 1439.