Lot 132. A rare 'Ru'-type lotus pod-mouth vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 9 1/4  in., 23.4 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000. Lot sold 100,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

finely potted with the globular body rising from a short foot to a tall cylindrical neck surmounted by a lotus pod-shaped mouth sealed on top save for seven pierced holes, covered overall with a smooth grayish-celadon glaze accentuated with occasional pale golden crackles, the foot ring dressed in brown imitating Song stoneware, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue, Japanese wood box (3). 

Note: The Japanese wood box cover has an inscription to the interior stating the vase was formally collected by Abe from the Edo period (1603-1868), signed by Ōba Iwao (1899-1975) and dated 1968.

Vases of this type are particularly rare. Compare a Qianlong mark and period flambé-glazed vase of very similar shape sold at Christie's New York, 15th September 2011, lot 1600. See a related Yongzheng clair-de-lune vase of a different shape but also with a lotus pod-head pierced with seven apertures, from the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, pl. 845; and also a Jiaqing celadon-glazed example with carved designs, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 17th November 1975, lot 153; and another, or possibly the same one, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2001, lot 554.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 12 sept. 2018, 10:30 AM