Lot 902. A rare lavender-blue crackle-glazed tripod censer, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 15.8 cm across handles, hardwood cover and stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 69,300 (Estimate: USD 20,000 – USD 30,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023.

The deep censer of bombé-form is raised on three short legs and rises to the slightly flaring rim, and is applied with two 'C'-scroll handles. The exterior is covered with a pale lavender-blue glaze suffused with a network of black crackles, which thins slightly around the rim and stops neatly around the concave base. The interior is covered with a finely-crackled pale-grey glaze.

Provenance: Christie's London, 15 May 2007, lot 250.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4374.

Note: The lavender-blue crackled glaze seen on this censer is rare. For a Kangxi-period bottle vase covered with the same lavender-blue crackled glaze in the Freer Gallery of Art see Oriental Ceramics: The World’s Great Collections, vol. 9, The Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., New York, 1981, col. pl. 23, pp. 167-168.

Christie's. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 23 march 2023