A fine ruby-ground famille-rose 'Bajixiang' altar vase, gu, Seal mark and period of Qianlong . Estimate  500,000 — 700,000  HKD.  Lot sold. 1,062,500 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

of archaistic gu form with a trumpet neck resting above a central bulb and a bell-shaped foot, the upper register finely decorated with the bajixiang emblems among leafy lotus scrolls between a band of ruyi-heads and an upright border of plantain leaves, all above a band of blue and yellow keyfret interrupted by a horizontal iron-red six-character seal within a horizontal panel , the lower register similarly decorated with the four remaining bajixiang, all reserved on a rich ruby-red ground, the interiors of the neck and base enamelled in turquoise; 26.4 cm., 10 3/8  in.

Note: A devout Buddhist and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned the furnishing of the Buddhist temples and ancestral halls with ritual vessels made from the finest materials, including cloisonné enamel, bronze and porcelain. Vases of this form belong to this group of ritual wares, which were produced in a range of colour palettes and sizes, and may have formed part of five-piece altar garnitures.

A closely related vase in the Tu Huo Zhai Museum, Hangzhou, was included in the exhibition Treasures of Imperial Porcelain, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou, 2001, cat. no. 130; and a slightly larger example was sold in our London rooms, 13th July 2005, lot 267. Compare also a yellow-ground vase of this type and with a Qianlong mark and of the period, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 95; a coral ground example sold in these rooms, 8th October 2006, lot 1123 and a pair of doucai enamels sold in these rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 3707.

Sotheby's. CHINESE ART. 01 JUNE 2015 - 02 JUNE 2015 | 3:15 PM HKT - HONG KONG