Lot 70. A rare Ming-style blue and white floral vase, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double-circle and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate £200,000 – £300,000 ($291,200 - $436,800). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The vase is elegantly potted in the form of a compressed hu, with two wide bands of flowers and foliage decorating the exterior of the body, separated by concentric bands. The short spreading foot is painted with a lotus border. 8 in. (20.2 cm.) high

Provenance: From a private European collection, acquired in the 1970s.
Offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13 November 1990, lot 224.

Notes: It is rare to find a blue and white vase from this period potted with this dramatically waisted hu form. One blue and white vase of similar shape, dated to the Yongzheng period and also painted with floral scrolls in the Ming style, was exhibited at the Exhibition of Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, Catalogue no. 85; and subsequently sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18 November 1986, lot 84. See a later example of this shape on a Qianlong mark and period famille rose revolving vase at the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, pp. 174-175, pl. 155.

Christie's. INSPIRED THEMES: A FINE SELECTION OF CHINESE WORKS OF ART, 10 May 2016, London, King Street