Lot 2712.  Property from The Tianminlou Collection. A fine and superb clair-de-lune glazed conjoined vase, Qianlong four-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 17 cm high. Price realised HKD 4,410,000 (Estimate: HKD 2,000,000 – HKD 3,000,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19 November 1986, lot 258. 

Literature: - Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 149
- Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1992, p. 347, no. 214
- Ming and Qing Polychrome Wares from the Collection of the Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 1994, no. 14
- Official Wares in Qing Dynasty vol.11, Japan, 25 November 1996, p.132, pl.69
- The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 326
- The 1st World Chinese Collection Exhibition, Beijing, December 2010, p.98-99.

Exhibited: - Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 149
- Hong Kong Museum of Art, Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 9 June – 2 August 1992, no. 214
- Christie’s Shanghai, Ming and Qing Polychrome Wares from the Collection of the Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 23-25 April 1994, no.14
- China Capital Museum, The 1st World Chinese Collection Exhibition, Beijing, 30 September 2010-9 January 2011, p.98-99

Note: Conjoined vases of such complicated design, comprising five outer vases enclosing one taller inner vase, requires superior technical virtuosity, and production was not made possible until the 18th century. While Qianlong conjoined vases of this type are known, it is extremely rare to find one applied with a clair-de-lune glaze. The current vase is possibly the only published example to date.

Compare to other Qianlong conjoined vases covered with different glaze colours or decorations, such as:
1) a blue and white example decorated with lotus scrolls in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 324;
2) one example in teadust glaze in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalog of the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, no. 96; and
3) a celadon-glazed example sold at Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 237 for US$572,500.

Christie's. The Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 30.11.2023