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Lot Essay
This elegant form is sometimes referred to as sanxuan zun, or “three-string vase,” a name derived from the three raised bands encircling the neck, which evoke the strings of Chinese musical instruments. It is also known as laifu zun, or “turnip-shaped vase,” following the Chinese tradition of naming certain porcelain forms after fruits and vegetables.
Similar examples of this form are recorded in important museum and private collections. One in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, no. 231, and again in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Tokyo, 1983, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27. An example in the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated by R. M. Chait, “The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes Bearing the K’ang Hsi Marks,” Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 132. Another, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 137, col. pl. 120. A further example was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition, Monochrome Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1977, no. 10.
The current vase can also be compared to an example formerly in the collection of Mrs. Yale Kneeland, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 564, and one from the celebrated set of eight peachbloom-glazed vessels in the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 557. Another, formerly in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, was sold at Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Christie's New York, 15 September 2016, lot 916.
Similar examples of this form are recorded in important museum and private collections. One in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, no. 231, and again in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Tokyo, 1983, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27. An example in the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated by R. M. Chait, “The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes Bearing the K’ang Hsi Marks,” Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 132. Another, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 137, col. pl. 120. A further example was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition, Monochrome Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1977, no. 10.
The current vase can also be compared to an example formerly in the collection of Mrs. Yale Kneeland, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 564, and one from the celebrated set of eight peachbloom-glazed vessels in the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 557. Another, formerly in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, was sold at Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Christie's New York, 15 September 2016, lot 916.