Lot 2710. From the Wang Xing Lou Collection. A fine and rare moulded celadon-glazed ‘dragon and phoenix’ octagonal vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 33 cm diam., wood stand, box. Price realised HKD 6,300,000 (Estimate HKD 1,500,000 – HKD 2,500,000). © Christie's Image Ltd 2024

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1-2 November 1994, lot 114.

Literature: Ye Peilan and J. Thompson, Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi- Yongzheng- Qianlong, A Selection from The Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 188-189, no. 70

Exhibited: On loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2003-2020

Note: The present vase is especially attractive for its beautiful and soft glaze of bluish-green tone, the intricate relief decoration, and its elegant facetted form. The vase may be modelled after a Yongzheng prototype of similar shape and design, see an example preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum, collection number gu-00148852. The vase is decorated with archaistic dragons, phoenixes, and other motifs derived from ancient bronzes, reflecting Qianlong emperor’s admiration and fondness of antiques, as well as his ambition for innovation and refinement

It is rare to find a Qianlong celadon-glazed vessel of octagonal shape with moulded design, as more often seen in plain; see one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1305, and later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 3615. Another plain vase with Qianlong mark of similar size and shape, yet covered in a Ru-type glaze, is in Taipei National Palace Museum, collection number: guci-007617.

Further compare to two other almost identical examples in size, form and decoration, one from the Estate of Diana D. Ashcroft, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 613; another formerly in a Japanese private collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2009, lot 1652.

Christie's. The Ten Perfections - Qing Imperial Ceramics from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 30 may 2024