Lot 2909. A very rare yellow-ground underglaze-blue decorated ‘lotus scroll’ hexagonal vase, Yongzheng six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1723-1735); 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 7,000,000 - HKD 9,000,000 (USD 899,095 - USD 1,155,980). Price realised HKD 8,525,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

The facetted vase is decorated around the neck and body in underglaze blue with two bands of lotus scrolls bearing large blooms containing Shou roundels, separated by bands of keyfret and ruyi-heads; the mouth with keyfrets and ruyi-heads above a wave border, flanked by two lug handles with archaistic S-shaped scrolls, and the foot with a row of upright petals above keyfrets, all against a bright yellow ground. The base is enamelled yellow, reserving the reign mark in the centre, box. 

Provenance: A French family collection
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 353.

Note: There is only a very small group of yellow-ground blue and white porcelains from the Yongzheng period, likely to do with the complexity of the manufacture process, which involves at least firing twice in the kilns. Most surviving examples were made in small sizes such as jars, bowls and small vases. Examples include a smaller Yongzheng-marked pear-shaped vase (25.5 cm.) sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1575; a small Yongzheng-marked jar (9.4 cm.) sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1218; and a Yongzheng-marked bowl in the Baur Museum Collection, Geneva, illustrated by J. Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in The Baur Collection, vol. II, Geneva, 1999, p. 91, no. 210. Large vases decorated in underglaze blue and yellow enamel like the current example are extremely rare. 

A fine and very rare yellow-ground and underglaze-blue floral vase, Encircled Yongzheng six-character mark within double circles and of the period (1723-1735); 10 in. (25.5 cm.) high. Sold for 7,047,500 HKD at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1575. © Christie's Images Ltd 2008

A rare small Ming-style blue and white yellow-ground vase, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 3 5/8 in. (9.4 cm.) high Sold for 81,250 USD at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1218. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

There are also vases of similar design and form but decorated in underglaze blue only. The National Palace Museum has a Yongzheng-marked blue and white vase of the same form and almost identical decoration, with slightly different decorative bands around the mouth, foot and shoulder, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty Book 1, Taipei, 1968, p. 76, pl. 6. It is interesting to note that the National Palace Museum example has remarkably similar decorations to the current vase in underglaze blue, but is almost half its size (28.7 cm.).