An Unusual 'Peacock's-Eye'-Glazed Bottle Vase. Qing Dynasty

The globular body with sloping shoulder and tall vertical neck, the exterior glazed with regularly spaced flambé spots on a mottled brown ground, the off-white interior with a golden-brown crackle, wood stand (2) - height 14 7/8 in., 37.7 cm - Estimate : 5,000—7,000 USD

Provenance: Alberts-Langdon, Inc., Boston (until 20th August 1976).
Thereafter with the present owner. Private collection from Boston.

Note:  For another vase with similar glaze of different form, attributed to the Qianlong period, from the Salting Collection, see W. B. Honey, Guide to the Later Chinese Porcelain, Periods of K'ang Hsi, Yung Cheng and Ch'ien Lung, London, 1927, pl. 15a. See also a dish with similar glaze, also attributed to the Qianlong period, in R. L. Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection, Catalogue, London, 1927, Vol. V, p. 53, no. E397, illustrated pl. LXVIII. Another vase of this form and size, with larger 'eyes', attributed to the Qianlong period, and exhibited in the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1913, was sold in our London rooms, 12th May 1970, lot 65. Another, with smaller 'eyes', also attributed to the Qianlong period, sold in those rooms, 24th July 1973, lot 432.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art including Chinese and Japanese Art from The Collection of Frieda and Milton Rosenthal. 16 Sep 08. www.sotheby's.com