Lot 254. An inscribed imitation-bronze wall vase, Qing dynasty. Height 9 3/8  in., 23.9 cm. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 62,500 USD. © Sotheby's.

the flat-back vase well potted with the rectangular body modeled with indented corners, rising from a short splayed foot to a waisted neck flanked by a pair of dragon handles below an everted rim, carved and gilded to the front and sides with archaistic angular kuilong, reserved on a dark brown ground splashed with turquoise and blue enamels simulating bronze encrustation, the front centered by a slightly convex panel enclosing an imperial poem and followed by an inscription reading Qianlong guihai yuti (imperially inscribed in the guihai year of Qianlong), accompanied by two iron-red seals Qian and Long, the gilt back with a slot for attaching to the wall, all supported on a faux-bois stand and inscribed to the base in gilt with a six-character studio mark reading Liuyuchun shanfang zhi (made by the Studio of Preserving the End of Spring).

Provenance: Private Collection, Vancouver, Canada.

Note: There appears to be limited records relating to the studio mark inscribed on the present vase, although a stone seal, carved with the same studio name, is known. The seal was made by Huang Yi (1744-1801), a renowned carver and calligrapher of the mid-Qing period and one of the 'Eight Masters of Xiling.' Based on the inscription, Huang made this seal for his friend Wan Yue in the summer of the yiwei year (1774).

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 13 Sep 2017