The form of this vase is based on a jade cong ritual object with a circular core and a square exterior, often with stylised masks carved in horizontal registers at the corners. For an example, cf. a jade cong dated to the Neolithic period, Liangzhu Culture, in the Nanjing Museum, included in the Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum Exhibition, China, 5000 Years, New York, 1998, Catalogue, no. 5. As early as the Song Dynasty, the Imperial court was fascinated with archaic objects and many wares were produced in imitation of ancient forms, including that of the cong.

No other Qing dynasty Yongzheng-marked examples of this type of ge-type glazed cong vases are recorded with exception of a related wall vase, in the Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in Qingdai Yuyao Ciqi, vol. 1, Forbidden City Press, 2005, p. 347, no. 156. Compare also an example dated to the Ming period in the Qing Court collection, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 221, no. 199.