Lot 70. Rare et important vase en porcelaine à glaçure de type ru, hu, Chine, dynastie Qing, marque à six caractères en cachet en bleu sous couverte et époque Yongzheng (1723-1735). Hauteur: 59 cm. (23 ¼ in.). Estimate EUR 300,000 - EUR 500,000 (USD 352,787 - USD 587,979). Price realised EUR 847,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

A rare and important ru-type glazed vase, hu, China, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period(1723-1735)

Sa forme est inspirée des vases hu archaïques. De forme balustre sous un long col évasé, la panse renflée repose sur un pied légèrement évasé. Il est rehaussé de trois anneaux doubles moulés en léger relief: l'un à la base du col, les deux autres sur la panse. Il est entièrement recouvert d'une belle glaçure bleutée à fines craquelures dorées.  

Provenance: Collection of Martine Marie Pol de Béhague, Comtesse de Béarn (1869-1939), Paris, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Comtesse Martine de Béhague, par Dagnan Bouveret.

The young heiress Martine Marie Pol de Béhague, (1869 - 1939) became Comtesse de Béarn when she married René-Marie-Hector de Galard de Brassac de Béarn in 1890. She inherited from her parents an immense fortune and a beautiful house in Paris which became one of the most elegant places of her times. The Comtesse lived with grand style enjoying the company of artists such as painter Paul Helleu but also writers and musicians: Paul Verlaine, Paul Valery, George Bizet or Gabriel Fauré. She travelled the world collecting art and reunited a very eclectic collection mixing Old Masters with masterpieces by Tiepolo, Guardi, Watteau and also Titien, manuscripts, antiquities and Chinese works of art.  

Note: The shape is in imitation of a Han Dynasty bronze hu vase, and archaic bronze vases of this type were undoubtedly available in the Imperial collections in the 18th century. Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns published in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-7, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.

Large Yongzheng-marked vases of this form covered in this glaze are extremely rare. Compare to a slightly smaller ru-glazed fanghu with a Yongzheng seal mark, also from a French collection, sold in Christie's Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot 3316. See a very simlarly decorated but smaller Yongzheng-marked guan-type glazed hu vase, from the Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, sold in Christie's New York, 19 March 2015, lot 426. 

An important large and rare Ru-type baluster vase, fanghu, Yongzheng six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1723-1735), from the Collection of Monseigneur le Comte (1908-1999) et la Comtesse de Paris (1911-2003); 19 1/2 in. (49.6 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 3,660,000 (USD 474,072) at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot 3316. © Christie’s Images Limited 2016.

Cf. my post: An important large and rare Ru-type baluster vase, fanghu, Yongzheng six-character seal mark and of the period

 A rare guan-type hu-form vase, China, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng six-character seal mark inunderglaze blue and of the period (1723-1735), from the Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth; 13 in. (33 cm.) high. Sold for USD 221,000 at Christie's New York, 19 March 2015, lot 426. © Christie’s Images Limited 2016.

Cf. my post: A rare guan-type hu-form vase, China, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 13 December 2017, Paris