Lot 127. A Guan-type glazed octagonal vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). Hauteur: 14 cm. (5 ½ in.). Estimate EUR 10,000 - EUR 15,000. Price realised EUR 17,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2020.

Reposant sur un petit pied, la panse octogonale est flanquée par deux anses tubulaires. L'ensemble est recouvert d'une belle glaçure épaisse de couleur céladon-bleu-ciel.

Provenance: Previously in a French private collection.

Note: Vases of this type from the Qianlong period were applied with both guan-type and ru-type glazes. The National Palace Museum Collection has two such examples, each inscribed on the base with an Imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor, with lines indicating that these vases functioned as receptacles for flowers (see Obtaining Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics, Taipei, 2012, pl. 85, 86.) The current vase is covered with a thick, greyish-blue glaze and dressed brown on the feet, in imitation of Song guan wares. In the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign (1735), the Superintendent of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen,Tang Ying, listed in Taocheng jishi bei ji (Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production), a number of glazes in imitation of Song wares, including ‘moon-white, pale green and deep green, all copied from ancient pieces sent from the Imperial Palace’. Compare also to a smaller example of this type (13.9 cm.) in the National Palace Museum collection, illustrated in the Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Qing Monochromes, Taipei, 1981, p. 149, no. 89.

See a pair of Qianlong guan-type vases from the J.M.Hu collection, sold in Christie's Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2851.

A fine pair of Guan-type glazed octagonal vases, Qianlong six-character seal marks in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,500,000. Price realised HKD 1,625,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2851. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Cf. my post Imperial Qing Monochromes from The J. M. Hu Collection

Christie's. Art d'Asie, Paris, 23 June 2020