LOt 90. A rare 'Yaozhou' bottle vase, Song dynasty (960-1127). 28.3 cm, 11 1/8  in. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Lots sold 162,500 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the rounded sides rising from a spreading foot to a waisted neck applied with two dragon mask handles, to a flaring rim, carved with a design of lotus below four horizontal ribs below a key fret at the rim, covered in an olive-green glaze pooling to a deeper colour in the carved recesses.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in 1986.

Note: Compare a Yaozhou vase of this form but with a reduced neck and carved on the body with a floral scroll, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 93.

Yaozhou bottle vase, Song dynasty (960-1127), Collection of the Palace Museum © Palace Museum, Beijing

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 08 Nov 2017