Lot 200. A rare celadon-glazed six-necked vase (liulianping), Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 9 3/4  in., 24.6 cm. Estimate 200,000 - 300,000 USD. Lot sold 245,000 USD. © Sotheby's

with five baluster-form vases enclosing the inner central and tallest vase, rising to narrow cylindrical necks, each with a single raised filet and terminating in an everted mouth and tapering to form a joined base, covered overall in a vitreous pale sea-green celadon glaze, seal mark in underglaze blue.  

Provenance: Acquired by the family before 1960 and thence by descent.

Note: This type of rare vase appears to have been made for imperial use during both the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods. Of the few known Qianlong examples, three have been previously sold at Sotheby's, one with incised decoration in these rooms, 18th September 1996, lot 225 and another in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th-6th November 1996, lot 862 and most recently in these rooms 20th March 2012, lot 237. A similar example with a plain celadon glaze of slightly smaller dimension is illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 149, and another example in the Art Institute of Chicago was included in the Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Los Angeles County Museum, 1952, Catalogue, no. 366. A vase with a sky-blue glaze is illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty, The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 326. A similar vase with a teadust glaze preserved in the National Palace Taiwan is illustrated in Catalog of the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, p. 123, no. 96.