A pair of yellow-glazed bottle vases, China, Qing dynasty, Shendetang Zhi four-character marks in iron-red, Daoguang period (1821-1850). Estimate $40,000 – $60,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Each vase covered in a deep mustard-yellow glaze ending at the white rim; 12 in. (30.4 cm.) high

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 1977.

Notes: Shendetang is a hall mark reserved for a range of fine porcelains made for the Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue, a summer residence of the Emperor Daoguang. The mark is more usually found on vases decorated in the famille rosepalette with flowering branches, often against a colored ground. Monochrome examples appear to be particularly rare and no other yellow-glazed vases of this form appear to have been published. A yellow-ground vase of related shape and size but decorated with scattered prunus and bamboo sprigs, from the J.T. Tai Collection, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 October 2010, lot 2129.

CHRISTIE'S. THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH PART III - CHINESE WORKS OF ART: QING CERAMICS, GLASS AND JADE CARVINGS, 19 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.