Lot 17. A rare turquoise-ground enameled 'Lingzhi' vase, Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735). Height 10 3/4 in., 27.3 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 USD. Lot sold 374,500 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the slender ovoid body surmounted by a tall, gently waisted neck with a flared rim, enameled on one side in rich ruby colors with a lingzhi spray, the gnarled stalks each with a naturalistic splayed head painted in shaded tones of purple, aubergine, pale orange and yellow with penciled line details, all reserved on an even turquoise enamel ground, six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle. 

Property from the Estate of William and Jennifer Shaw.

Provenance: Sir Frederick Bruce, G.C.B. (1814-1867).
Robert C. Bruce Collection, Sotheby's London, 12th May 1953, lot 143.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th-9th November 1982, lot 220.

Exhibited: Oriental Ceramic Society 'Exhibition of Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain of the Manchu Dynasty', London 1951, Catalogue no. 152

Literature: Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, pl. LV, fig.1.
M. Mattos dos Santos, Las Marcas, Les Marques, The Marks, in color, p. 141 together with a detail showing the reign mark.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012