Lot 2562. A fine and very rare Ge-type cong-form vase, Yongzheng six-character sealmark and of the period (1723-1735); 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) high. Estimate HK$800,000 - HK$1,200,000 ($103,720 - $155,581). Price Realized HK$1,160,000 ($150,348). © Christie's Image Ltd 2008.

Of square section, the corners moulded with the bagua, the Eight Daoist Trigrams, arranged into horizontal registers of two columns, below a circular mouth and raised on a splayed foot ring, covered overall with an unctuous, characteristic crackled ge-type glaze, box. 

Note: The form of this vase is based on a jade cong ritual object with a circular core and a square exterior, often with stylised masks carved in horizontal registers at the corners. For an example, cf. a jade cong dated to the Neolithic period, Liangzhu Culture, in the Nanjing Museum, included in the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum Exhibition, China, 5000 Years, New York, 1998, Catalogue, no. 5. As early as the Song Dynasty, the Imperial court was fascinated with archaic objects and many wares were produced in imitation of ancient forms, including that of the cong.

No other Qing dynasty Yongzheng-marked examples of this type of ge-type glazed cong vases are recorded with exception of a related wall vase, in the Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in Qingdai Yuyao Ciqi, vol. 1, Forbidden City Press, 2005, p. 347, no. 156. Compare also an example dated to the Ming period in the Qing Court collection, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 221, no. 199.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art . 3 December 2008. Hong Kong.