Lot 29. A fine and extremely rare pair of lavender-blue bottle vases, Marks and period of Yongzheng  (1723-1735); 13.7 cm., 5 3/8 in. Estimate 3,000,000—5,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 12,980,000 HK (1,669,747 USD) to a Hong Kong Private. Photo Sotheby's 2011

each with a globular body, rising to a cylindrical neck and an everted rim, all supported on a straight foot pierced with two openings in the manner of archaic bronzes, covered on the exterior with an even pale blue glaze, the interiors and base left white, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in underglaze blue

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 18th/19th April 1989, lot 347 (possibly).

Exhibited: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 852.

Note: No other vase of this form and colour appears to be recorded. This glaze colour, which is also sometimes described as 'clair-de-lune', is extremely rare, as is this vessel form with openings in the foot. Both colour and shape may be based on celadon vases of the Song dynasty, which in turn are probably inspired by archaic bronze vessels. Compare a pair of octagonal 'Longquan' vases of the Southern Song or Yuan dynasty (12th/13th century) from the collection of Sir Alan Barlow at the University of Sussex, England, acquisition no. C 75.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains, 07 Apr 11. Hong Kong