Lot Essay
Only one other vase of this shape appears to be published. See the guan-type vase in the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garnerm included in the O.C.S. exhibition, Ju and Kuan Wares, London, 1952, Catalogue, no. 119 and later sold as Yongzheng, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Hong Kong, May 12-13, 1976, lot 235
The rare shape may derive from the bulbous vases with scalloped, everted mouth rims that are made in imitation of pomegranates; such as the white-glazed, anhua-decorated example of Yongzheng date illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 140. The tri-lobed form is also similar to the lower body of a tri-lobed, double-gourd vase covered with a guan-type glaze, and with Yongzheng mark, in the Baur Collection, included in the O.C.S. exhibition, The Ceramic Art of China, London, June 9-July 25, 1971, Catalogue, pl. 59, no. 238
The style of painting of the decoration is related to that found on large dishes and vases with Yongzheng marks. Compare the painting on a large dish decorated with chrysanthemums in the Umezawa Kinenkan Museum, Tokyo, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, 1961, col. pl. 12 and another in the same volume, pl. 73. A pair of large bottle vases painted with branches of chrysanthemum blossoms in different colors is illustrated by Stephen W. Bushell and William M. Laffan, Catalogue of The Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1907, pl. LV. Compare, also, the painting on a large vase decorated with peonies in the Tokyo National Museum illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 80
The rare shape may derive from the bulbous vases with scalloped, everted mouth rims that are made in imitation of pomegranates; such as the white-glazed, anhua-decorated example of Yongzheng date illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 140. The tri-lobed form is also similar to the lower body of a tri-lobed, double-gourd vase covered with a guan-type glaze, and with Yongzheng mark, in the Baur Collection, included in the O.C.S. exhibition, The Ceramic Art of China, London, June 9-July 25, 1971, Catalogue, pl. 59, no. 238
The style of painting of the decoration is related to that found on large dishes and vases with Yongzheng marks. Compare the painting on a large dish decorated with chrysanthemums in the Umezawa Kinenkan Museum, Tokyo, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, 1961, col. pl. 12 and another in the same volume, pl. 73. A pair of large bottle vases painted with branches of chrysanthemum blossoms in different colors is illustrated by Stephen W. Bushell and William M. Laffan, Catalogue of The Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1907, pl. LV. Compare, also, the painting on a large vase decorated with peonies in the Tokyo National Museum illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 80