Lot 106. A fine and outstanding pair of  Guan-type rectangular jardinières, seals mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 20.9 cm, 8 1/4 in. Estimate: 4,000,000 - 6,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 7,820,000 HKD.  Photo Sotheby's 2012

each robustly potted of rectangular form with four bombé sides rising to a wide flared mouth with an everted rim, all supported on four stylised ruyi-cloud bracketed feet connected by an apron, the corners each set with three thinly moulded interlinked ruyi heads, the base pierced with two small apertures for water drainage, covered overall save for the footring by an even and flawless caesious-coloured glaze thinning at the fillet on the shoulders and on the corners revealing the white body beneath, the unglazed foot and apron dressed in a brown wash imitating the purplish body of Song dynasty guan ware, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark, stand.

Provenance: Acquired in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s.

Exhibited: Zandelou Qingdai guanyao danseyou ciqi/Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zandelou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 37.

Literature: Helen D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collection of Chinese Ceramics from the Pavilion of Ephemeral Attainment, vol. IV,
Hong Kong, 1950, pl. 176.

Note: Jardinieres of precisely angled, rectangular form are extremely rare as they are very difficult to produce. A Yongzheng example of different profile, with simpler flared sides, and with a stronger celadon glaze, was included in the exhibition Imperial Perfection. The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors: Kangxi – Yongzheng – Qianlong. A Selection from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 2004, cat. no. 67; another was sold at Christie’s New York, 16th
September 2011, lot 1575.