Lot 3681. A celadon-glazed tazza, Seal mark and period of Qianlong. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo Sotheby's

with shallow rounded sides raised on a splayed stem, finely carved and moulded on the biscuit under the glaze, the interior with a large medallion centred with an eight-petalled flower head surrounded by four further blossoms alternating with ruyi heads, all wreathed in feathery foliage forming interlaced scrollwork, the underside similarly decorated with undulous striated petals issuing from a collar of alternating trefoils and whorls, above interlaced feathery scrolls draping the stem, covered overall with a pale translucent sea-green glaze thinning to white on the reliefs and toward the rim, the interior of the stem reserved in white and inscribed in underglaze blue with a horizontal six-character seal mark - 17.5 cm., 6 7/8  in.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR AND MRS GERARD HAWTHORN

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 24th July 1973, lot 413.

Notes: The present piece is notable for the elegant design of stylised foliage and flower sprays which perfectly complements the form and hue of the celadon glaze. A closely related tazza, from the collection of Mrs. Frances Collins, was sold in our New York rooms, 23rd October 1976, lot 270; and another example was sold twice at Christie’s Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 470, and 27th May 2009, lot 1891.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 07 oct. 2015, 02:30 PM