Lot 9. A small 'peach bloom'-glazed baluster vase, Qing Dynasty, 19th-20th century, apocryphal Kangxi mark. Hauteur : 17,5 cm. Vendu : EUR 5,292 (Estimation : EUR 4,000 – EUR 6,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

La base porte une marque Kangxi apocryphe à six caractères en bleu sous couverte.

Provenance: European private collection, acquired by the grandfather of the current owner at Ferdinand Weber, Mannheim, December 1933 (according to the collector's notebook).

The grandfather of the present owner collected Chinese porcelain in the 1920s and 1930s on the European market. The first part of the collection, including some pieces from the Eumorfopoulos collection, was sold at Christie's Amsterdam, 31 October 2006, lots 473-486. The second and last part of the collection is now offered in Christie's Paris.

Note: The vase is described as an amphora after the Greek shape, but it is known in Chinese as Guanyin ping as its shape compares well to the libation vase said to contain ambrosia held by many figures of Guanyin, as depicted in paintings and sculptures. It is also known in Chinese as liuye ping, 'willow-leaf vase', owing to its elegant form which resembles that of a willow leaf.

Kangxi examples are illustrated by S. Valenstein, Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, pl. 138; by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, p. 176, pl. 817; in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 139, pl. 122, from the Beijing Palace Museum; in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng, Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 8; by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1972, vol. III, no. A303; by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, pl. 55, from the Shanghai Museum; included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, 1984, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 29; and by R. M. Chai in his article 'The Eight Prescribed Peach-bloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi Marks', published in Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 130-137, where he praises the elegant form of the vase.

Christie's. ART D'ASIE, Paris, 12 december 2023