A celadon vase from the Stephen D. Winkworth Collection, possibly the present vase, is illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, pl. C., fig. 2. Two other examples of the same form with similar motifs and reign marks are published; compare a pale lavender-glazed vase from the Warre Collection included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935, Catalogue, no. 228; and a vase with a creamy-white glaze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, p. 264, no. 268. A nearly identical celadon-glazed vase, but with a Yongzheng mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 276, no. 105.

The form and decorative motifs on this vase originate from Western Zhou bronzes such as the examples illustrated by W. Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, nos. 52 and 53. During the Qianlong period vases of this type were also simulated in fine jade, illustrating the ease in the transference of creative images using a variety of materials. One such example of an archaistic form transferred onto Qing jade is the spinach-jade hu-shaped vase illustrated by R. Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, no. 135, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1537.

(US$90,000-115,000)