YONGZHENG FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD

Details

A Rare Famille Rose Yellow-Ground Molded Hexagonal Vase
Yongzheng four-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period
The tapering faceted body with recessed panels molded in relief with a Buddhist altar vase, the panels bordered by flower heads and gilt leaves on a shaded black ground, below the outward-curved shoulder molded with birds standing above gilt swags suspended from foliate scrolls issuing from the foliate spandrels at the corners which are repeated on the similarly shaped collar positioned above the waisted pedestal foot molded with two bands of leaves divided by a gilt band, the tall trumpet neck molded with narrow fluted petals enclosing baroque interlaced strapwork reserved on an iron-red ground, the interior of the neck molded with the reverse of the petals and covered in a turquoise glaze repeated on the base surrounding the seal mark
14¾in. (37.5cm.) high

Provenance

Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 20/21 May 1987, lot 565.

Lot Essay

A very similar, yet slightly larger, vase of this very rare form from the collection of W. T. Walters is illustrated by S. W. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, 1980 ed., pl. XX, who notes that it originally would have been used in a Buddhist temple as part of a five-piece altar set consisting of a censer, two pricket candlesticks and a pair of vases. A pair of similar vases, along with a matching octagonal covered censer, was sold in our London rooms, 7 April 1982, lot 62.

A vase in the Shanghai Museum of this form and size, with the more unusual four-character mark, and with a predominantly turquoise ground, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji; Jingdezhen caihui ciqi (The Great Treasury of Chinese Ceramics; Jingdezhen Painted Porcelain), Shanghai, 1981, vol. 21, pl. 99.

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