Lot 6. A Rare Longquan Celadon Double-Gourd Vase, Yuan - Ming Dynasty, 14th Century; 36.5 cm., 14 3/8 in. Estimate 800,000-1,200,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,900,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's

of slender double-gourd form, the generously rounded spherical lower body tapering at the svelte waist before rising to a tall upper bulb surmounted by a lipped rim, evenly covered overall in a glossy celadon-green glaze, paling slightly at the rim and pooling thickly at the neatly cut footrim, the unglazed foot dressed in brown and burnt slightly russet in the firing, encircling the recessed base.

Provenance: Collection of the Asada Family, Japan, until 1934.
Tokyo Bijutsu Club, Tokyo, 1934, lot 168.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 2005, lot 676..

Literature: Asada ke zōhin tenkan nyūsatsu [Exhibition for auction of objects collected by the Asada Family], Tokyo, 1934, no. 168.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1607.

Note:Gourd-shaped vases are surprisingly rare among the rich production of the many celadon kilns located in and around Longquan county in Zhejiang province. A slightly smaller vase of this form attributed to the Yuan dynasty, the base equally having a recessed centre, was excavated from a hoard discovered during building works at Baihuo commune, Qingtian county, Zhejiang province, and is now with the Qingtian County Cultural Relics Management Committee. Undoubtedly due to its beauty as well as its rarity, this vase has been frequently published, for example, in ZhuBoqian, Longquan yao qingci/Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taibei, 1998, pl. 154 (fig. 0); in Zhongguo Longquan qingci/Longquan Celadon of China, Hangzhou, 1998, pl. 124 and on the title page; and in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 10, pl. 35. Another vase of this form is illustrated in Sgy Shichijnen Kinen Rysen Shh/Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 484.

Longquan celadon double-gourd vase, Yuan dynasty. Excavated in Qingtian county, Zhejiang

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