of broad-shouldered baluster form, the tall waisted neck set with a pair of ruyi handles, covered overall with a bluish-gray glaze suffused with a broad matrix of gray and gold crackles.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 12th July 2006, lot 134.

Note: Qianlong vases of this form are rare although a very similar piece is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pp. 218-219, pl. 877, where the author notes that the light gray glaze with distinct dark-stained crackle found on the vase is generally considered to imitate 'Ge' ware of the Song dynasty although the identity of the ware is not yet resolved. Compare a similar vase sold in our London rooms, 10th June 1986, lot 291, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 519.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 16 Sep 09. New York.