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Lot Essay
The present vase appears to be unique. It is of an impressive size and unusual form, and no other vase of this type is found to be recorded.
Its closest comparison are two slightly smaller Yongzheng-marked flambé-glazed pear-shaped vases, of similar proportions to the present lot, moulded with three sets of triple bow-strings, but without the handles, one in the Beijing Palace Museum (24 cm. high), and illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 177; and the other (20.7 cm. high) included in the joint exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain, Nanjing Museum and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 36.
Another closely related piece is the flambé-glazed hu-shaped vase from the Jingguantang Collection, sold in these Rooms, 3 November 1996, lot 564, and again, 30 April 2000, lot 596. This vase and the present lot share similar characteristics in having the best type of flambé glaze which is thick and of rich tones varying from deep red to purple and lavender-blue. This distinctive glaze seeks to re-create the famous classical Jun wares of the Song period, and the splashes and streaks characteristic of this glaze are described as yao bian, or 'transmutation glaze'.
Its closest comparison are two slightly smaller Yongzheng-marked flambé-glazed pear-shaped vases, of similar proportions to the present lot, moulded with three sets of triple bow-strings, but without the handles, one in the Beijing Palace Museum (24 cm. high), and illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 177; and the other (20.7 cm. high) included in the joint exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain, Nanjing Museum and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 36.
Another closely related piece is the flambé-glazed hu-shaped vase from the Jingguantang Collection, sold in these Rooms, 3 November 1996, lot 564, and again, 30 April 2000, lot 596. This vase and the present lot share similar characteristics in having the best type of flambé glaze which is thick and of rich tones varying from deep red to purple and lavender-blue. This distinctive glaze seeks to re-create the famous classical Jun wares of the Song period, and the splashes and streaks characteristic of this glaze are described as yao bian, or 'transmutation glaze'.