Lot 144. A copper-red and gilt-decorated bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the pear-shaped body rising from a short tapering foot to a tall neck with everted rim, painted with three recumbent mythical beasts in soft copper-red silhouettes mottled with emerald green, their eyes picked out in underglaze blue and the details highlighted in gilding, the rim with a gilt ruyi band; 40.5 cm, 16 in.

Notes: This vase is notable for the gilding that remains intact, which often wore away over time. A related vase, from the W.W. Winkworth collection, was sold in these rooms, 12th December 1972, lot 105; two lacking the gilding were sold at Christie’s London, the first, 28th July 1975, lot 126, and the second, from the collection of Leona M. Helmsley, 11th May 2010, lot 245; and a further example, from the collection of Leo and Doris Hodroff, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2008, lot 630.

See also smaller vases of this type, such as one in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 79; another included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette. Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 9; and a third from the collections of Wilfred A. Evill and Roger Pilkington, sold in these rooms in 1956 and 1969, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 51. 

A copper-red and gilt-decorated bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Lot Sold 2,480,000 HKD (279,971 EUR) at Sotheby's Hong Kong , 6th April 2016, lot 51. Photo Sotheby's.

(Cf. http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2016/04/09/33643402.html)

The use of copper-red at Jingdezhen was revived under the Kangxi Emperor after the decline in its usage after the 15th century in his quest to reproduce classic Ming porcelain designs. The high level of technical knowledge of the potters is evident in their ability to control the temperamental copper-red pigment to produce finely painted and fired wares. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 09 Nov 2016, 11:30 AM