Lot Essay
The present vase is especially attractive for its beautiful and soft glaze of bluish-green tone, the intricate relief decoration, and its elegant facetted form. The vase may be modelled after a Yongzheng prototype of similar shape and design, see an example preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum, collection number gu-00148852 (fig. 1). The vase is decorated with archaistic dragons, phoenixes, and other motifs derived from ancient bronzes, reflecting Qianlong emperor’s admiration and fondness of antiques, as well as his ambition for innovation and refinement.
It is rare to find a Qianlong celadon-glazed vessel of octagonal shape with moulded design, as more often seen in plain; see one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1305, and later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 3615. Another plain vase with Qianlong mark of similar size and shape, yet covered in a Ru-type glaze, is in Taipei National Palace Museum, collection number: guci-007617 (fig. 2).
Further compare to two other almost identical examples in size, form and decoration, one from the Estate of Diana D. Ashcroft, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 613; another formerly in a Japanese private collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2009, lot 1652.
It is rare to find a Qianlong celadon-glazed vessel of octagonal shape with moulded design, as more often seen in plain; see one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1305, and later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 3615. Another plain vase with Qianlong mark of similar size and shape, yet covered in a Ru-type glaze, is in Taipei National Palace Museum, collection number: guci-007617 (fig. 2).
Further compare to two other almost identical examples in size, form and decoration, one from the Estate of Diana D. Ashcroft, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 613; another formerly in a Japanese private collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2009, lot 1652.