QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

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 18^th 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 (fig. 1);
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 (fig. 2); and
3) a celadon-glazed example sold at Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 237 for US$572,500.