Lot 161. A famille-rose 'bajixiang' altar vase (Gu), Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 10 ½ in., 26.8 cm. Estimate: 10,000 - 15,000 USD. Lot sold: 12,600 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of archaistic gu form, finely modeled with a trumpet neck above a central bulb and a bell-shaped foot, the neck decorated with four of the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' interspersed with leafy lotus scrolls between a band of pendent ruyi heads above and border of stylized plantain leaves below, all above a keyfret band enclosing an iron-red six-character seal mark within a rectangular cartouche, the central bulb enameled with further lotus blooms borne on scrolling foliage, all supported on the high foot similarly decorated with the four remaining 'Buddhist Emblems', the interior of the neck and foot enameled turquoise.

Provenance: Offered at Sotheby's New York, 19th-20th March 2013, lot 219.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 17 march 2021