Lot 29. A rare Ru-type archaistic baluster vase, zun, Qianlong seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 34cm (13 1/2in) high. (2). Sold for HKD 444,000 (Estimate HKD 50,000 - HKD 700,000). © Bonhams 2001-2022

Modelled as a flattened archaic bronze hu, the rounded sides resting on a slightly sprayed foot rising to a slightly flared mouthrim, the waisted neck flanked by a pair of stylised relief-moulded pushou ring handles, covered overall in a pale greenish-blue glaze and moulded with three raised bands, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in seal script, box.

Provenance: The Chenyuezhai Collection.

Note: Celadon wares in a luminous and translucent bluish-green glaze suffused with a dense network of glistening ice crackles made in Chai yao and Ru yao during the Five Dynasties and Northern Song dynasty were admired for achieving glazes of a specific shade ("approaching the blue of the sky after rain"), it was copied by the talented Imperial Porcelain Manufactory superintendent Tang Yin (1682-1756) at Jingdezhen in the Yongzheng and early Qianlong reigns according to Imperial Records. The present vase belongs to this rare group of Ru-type wares copying Ru wares sent from the Court collection to Jingdezhen. Its shape is possibly derived from a Zhou dynasty ritual bronze hu vessel recorded in the Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], vol.20, p.12.

The fashion of archaistic vases reached its peak during the Qianlong reign. For example see a related Qianlong mark and period Ru-type pushou vase in the Nanjing Museum collection, illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.331; for its Yongzheng variants, see a Yongzheng mark and period celadon-glazed pushou vase in the Zhuyuetang Collection, illustrated by Peter Y.K. Lam, Shimmering Colours. Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods. The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, no.76.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 30 November 2022