Archaism as a major theme in the crafts of the Qing dynasty, is represented two-fold on the present lot. The hu shape is derived from early bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, while the glaze that is an imitation of the Southern Song dynasty imperial geyao glaze. Compare the present vase with its Song prototype, a small guan with canted corners in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D. C., illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, Japan, 1981, vol. 9, fig. 44. Cf. also Qianlong hu-shaped ge-type vases, one illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1987, no. 960; and another sold in these Rooms, 1 May 1995, lot 713.