A Fine Teadust-Glazed Bottle Vase. Incised Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong. Photo Sotheby's

the compressed pear-shaped body raised on a splayed foot, tapering to a tall, narrow, cylindrical neck, covered overall in a mottled opaque glaze of olive brown save for the unglazed footrim dressed in a dark brown wash, the base incised with a six-character reign mark covered in brown; 33 cm., 13 in. Estimate 1,200,000-2,000,000 HKD

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

Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 174.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 936.

Note:A pair of vases of this design in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, was included in the Museum's exhibition Seikad z Shinch tji. Keitokuchin kany no bi [Qing dynasty porcelain collected in the Seikado. Beauty of Jingdezhen imperial kilns], Tokyo, 2006, cat. no. 109; another example of this design but with a pale rim is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics. Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, pl. 25.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection, Part II - An Important Selection of Chinese Porcelains. Hong Kong 5 october 2011 www.sothebys.com