Inspired by early-Ming mould-made flower vessels produced in Yuzhou, Henan province, an area formerly known as Junzhou, the present flower vessel is closely related to a piece from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, but covered in a purple glaze imitating Jun wares, also with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 178, and also included in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], vol. 14, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 232. Another similar Yongzheng Jun-type narcissus bowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 84; and a further example is published in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 3, Geneva, 1972, pl. A355.

Compare also a larger Yongzheng narcissus bowl covered in a dark-brown glaze to imitate bronze, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 803, and again in our New York rooms, 18th March 2008, lot 115; a related Jun-type glazed example sold in these rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 190; and a lilac-glazed example sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 341.