Lot 2118. A fine and rare clair-de-lune glazed vase, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722); 6 1/4 in. (15.8 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000. Price realised HKD 12,420,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012 

The slender vase has tall rounded shoulders rising to a trumpet neck. The whole is covered in a fine pale sky blue glaze except for the white concave base bearing the reign mark, silver stand by Tiffany & Co.

Provenance: Mrs. Potter Palmer, Chicago (1849-1918)
J. Insley Blair (1870-1939) and thence by descent to the present owners 

Literature: The J. Insley Blair Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Tuxedo Park, New York, 1925, pl. III, no. 161

Note: The vase is described as an amphora after the Greek shape, but it is known in Chinese as Guanyin ping as its shape compares well to the libation vase said to contain ambrosia held by many figures of Guanyin, as depicted in paintings and sculptures. It is also known in Chinese as liuye ping, 'willow-leaf vase', owing to its elegant form which resembles that of a willow leaf. Vases of this form belong to one of the eight vessels made for the imperial scholar's desk, known as Badama, 'Eight Great Numbers', and decorated with the peachbloom glaze. 

Compare to a similar example in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, also with a Tiffany & Co. stand and bequeathed by Benjamin Altman in 1913, who was a contemporary of J. Insley Blair (acquisition no.: 14.40.367). Another example, also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is illustrated in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, no. 136, where it is illustrated with other clair-de-lune glazed objects for the scholar's table. S.G. Valenstein also discusses this collection and relates the finely potted cobalt-glazed wares to later period in the Kangxi reign, see A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pp. 239-241. Another from the collection of Prince Gong (1833-1898), is illustrated by S. Lee, Selected Far Eastern Art in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1970, no. 341.

Two examples were sold at auction, the first from the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 5 November 1997, lot 861, and the other was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 November 1999, lot 340.