Lot 9830. A fine and very rare robin’s egg-glazed jar, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng; 20.2 cm. Lot Sold 3,328,000 HKD (Estimate 2,500,000 - 3,500,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Literature: Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 92.

Note: Superbly potted with an ovoid body covered in a vibrant glaze with a bold pattern of turquoise streaks against a purplish ground, the current jar is a very rare example of robin's egg-glazed vessels from the Yongzheng period, when such richly variegated transmutation glazes were produced for the imperial court and prized for their striking effects.

Developed at Jingdezhen under the pioneering direction of the official Tang Ying (1682-1756), who is known to have studied in detail the finest imperial porcelains of the Song dynasty, the ‘robin’s egg’ glaze was created as a reinterpretation of the famous Jun glazes of the Song. Known as lujun (‘furnace Jun’) in Chinese, the glaze was fired at a lower temperature than that of the porcelain itself and thus required a second firing. In Taocheng jishi [Records of ceramic production], one of the most important documents about the Imperial Factory written by Tang Ying during the last year of the Yongzheng reign, lujun glaze is listed first among the nineteen major types of ceramics that he succeeded in firing and proposed as suitable for regular delivery to the imperial court. Although the production of ‘robin’s egg’ glaze lasted till the end of the Qing dynasty, the finest pieces were created in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods.

Lot 9831. A very rare celadon-glazed jar, Mark and period of Yongzheng; 20.2 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 640,000 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.
Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2005, lot 1501.
 

Note: Jars of this same shape and size are very rare, and only two other examples have been sold at auction: one in these rooms, 17th May 1989, lot 192, and the other at Christie’s Hong Kong, 20th March 1990, lot 611.
A celadon-glazed vase of this rare form, with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the same size, was included in the Min Chiu Society Exhibition of Monochrome Ceramics of Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 69.

Lot 9840. A fine teadust-glazed three-handled vase, meiping, Seal mark and period of Qianlong; 28.2 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 2,944,000 HKD (Estimate 1,500,000 - 2,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Provenance: Kosetsuken.
Kosetsuken zohin nyusatsu mokuroku [Auction catalogue of Kosetsuken collection], Osaka Art Club, Osaka, 24th January 1937, lot 169.
Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Kobe.
 

Exhibited: Daibi meihin ten: Osaka bijutsu kurabu soritsu hyaku shunen kinen [Osaka Art Club centenary exhibition of masterpieces], Osaka Art Club, Osaka, 2010, cat. no. 105.
 

Literature: Sekai Toji Zenshu [Ceramic Art of the World], vol. 12: Qing, Tokyo, 1956, pl. 99.
Gakuji Hasebe, Toki Zenshu [The Complete Works of Ceramics], vol. 16: Shincho no kanyo [Imperial kiln in Qing], Tokyo, 1958, pl. 59.
Sato Masahiko, Toki Koza [Lecture of Ceramics], vol. 12: China IV. Qing dynasty, Tokyo, 1975, pl. 114.
 

Note: The design of the vase appears to be inspired by archaic bronze vessels. The combination of three sets of concentric raised rings on the body and three loop handles on the shoulder is frequently found on archaic bronze vessels, although the loop handles are more often on the cover instead. See an archaic bronze wine vessel of the Warring States period from the Sir Joseph Hotung Collection, sold in these rooms, 1st June 2023, lot 302.

Identical teadust-glazed examples are very rare, and only one example is recorded at the Idemitsu Museum. See Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 963. A few examples in other glazes and sizes were sold in these rooms: a taller Yongzheng celadon example sold on 7th May 2002, lot 510; a smaller Qianlong Guan-type example sold on 27th April 2003, lot 160; another Qianlong Guan-type vase with shorter neck and wider shoulder from the T.Y. Chao Collection, sold on 19th May 1987; and a Jiaqing Guan-type vase sold on 8th April 2007, lot 717.

A few other examples can be seen in museums, including a Qianlong celadon-glazed vase in the Beijing Palace Museum, published in Life in the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, Classic of Forbidden City, Beijing, 2007, pp. 148, pl. 221; another pair of Qianlong celadon examples from the Taipei Palace Museum, accession nos zhongci-740 and 741; a Yongzheng robin’s-egg glazed meiping from the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 203.

Lot 9842. A fine white-glazed incised stem bowl, Mark and period of Qianlong; 14.7 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 409,600 HKD (Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th November 1989, lot 200.

Lot 9845. A fine white-glazed 'rice grain' cup, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, Yuyan shuwu mark; 6.8 cm. Lot Sold 832,000 HKD (Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st May 2001, lot 591.

Literature: Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 60.

Note: This elegant cup belongs to a select group of wares inscribed with the mark yuyan shuwu (Library of Washing Inkstone), which was used during the Yongzheng (r. 1723-1735) and Qianlong (r. 1736-1795) reigns. See a closely related cup, but potted resting on a countersunk base, from the collection of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, was sold at Christie’s New York, 14th/15th September 2017, lot 1225. See also a cup of this type, but with a flared rim and with a Qianlong mark and of the period, in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. CIV, fig, 1.
 

Rice-grain porcelain (linglongci) is rare in 18th-century wares. It became more prevalent in later periods, though generally with less intricate patterns and often combined with underglaze blue or enamelled decoration.

Lot 9847. Property from The Sze Tak Tong Collection. A fine and rare gilt-decorated bronze-imitation waterpot, Seal mark and period of Qianlong; l. 6.3 cm, wood stand. Lot Sold 320,000 HKD (Estimate 250,000 - 450,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026
 

Provenance: Collection of J.M. Hu.
Christie's Hong Kong, 28th November 2006, lot 1576.
 

Note: The current piece appears to be unique, and no other waterpot of the same design has been published. Wares decorated with a similar technique are also rare. See a gilt-decorated Qianlong censer, of café-au-lait ground with celadon-glazed reticulated panels, reign mark also inscribed in gilt, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th May 2013, lot 2126.

The theme of archaism, as seen in the chilong dragon, is frequently found in other bronze-imitation porcelains from the Qianlong period. See a gilt-splashed bamboo double vase from the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2019, lot 522; as well as a gilt-splashed chilong bronze-imitation teadust-glazed vase, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3682.

Sotheby's. Zoomorphia: Animal Forms in Ancient China | Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 5 May 2026