Lot 3691. A rare blue-glazed lobed 'Chrysanthemum' teapot, Seal mark and period of Qianlong. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD (35,016 - 58,360 EUR). Unsold. Photo Sotheby's

of compressed globular form, subtly moulded with two rows of narrow lobes radiating from a central band bordering the body, flanked by a short spout and a loop handle on the sides, the neck and base similarly moulded in the form of chrysanthemum petals, the exterior evenly covered with an unctuous blue glaze save for a circular panel on the base reserved white and inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark, the seal mark encircled by six spur marks on the blue ground - 20.8 cm., 8 1/8  in.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR AND MRS GERARD HAWTHORN

Note: Teapots of this type were first produced in the Yongzheng period, and continued to be produced, although in smaller number during the Qianlong reign. Compare a Qianlong mark and period teapot and cover of this form, but with a celadon glaze, from the collection of Robert Chang, included in An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's, London, 1993, cat. no. 66, and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 508; and an unmarked apple green-glazed version, from the collection of Fong Chow, sold at Christie's New York, 21st/22nd March 2013, lot 1206. For the Yongzheng prototype see one sold twice in these rooms, 18th May 1982, lot 291, and 2nd May 2005, lot 673; and a flambé-glazed example from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 112. 

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