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

The glaze on this vase is based on one of the five famous wares of the Song dynasty—Ge ware. All five (the other four being Ru, Guan, Ding and Jun) were greatly admired by the emperors of the high Qing, and during the Yongzheng reign much research and development was undertaken in order to reproduce these glazes on the porcelains made at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. Like his father, the Qianlong Emperor was fascinated by antiques and encouraged the craftsmen working for the court to reproduce them. The fondness for antiquarianism is also evident in the shape, as this vase is potted after an archaic bronze hu vessel with a broad waisted neck and ribbed globular body. Monochrome vases of this type have been recorded with a variety of crackle glazes, including one Guan-type example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1327, and a Ru-type example exhibited in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochrome Glazed Porcelain, 1981, no. 88. See also the Yongzheng-marked blue and white example sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 3067.