Lot 136. A blue-glazed bottle vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 12 7/8  in., 32.7 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000. Lot sold 21,250 USD. © Sotheby's.

the pear-shaped body supported on a straight foot and tapering to a straight neck, covered overall in a rich, even indigo-colored glaze, the interior and base white, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue. 

Provenance: New York Private Collection

Note: Imperial kilns during the Qianlong emperor's reign (1736-1795) produced dark-blue-glazed vases in a number of shapes. The present form with the straight foot and teardrop-shaped body rising to a subtly tapered cylindrical neck is among the less common forms manufactured during that period. A closely-related vase, though slightly shorter, sold at Christie's New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1740; another, though taller than the present example, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3058; a third sold in our London rooms, 9th November 2016, lot 178.

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