• The Imperial Sale & Important  auction at Christies

    Sale 3433

    The Imperial Sale & Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

    Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

    |

    3 June 2015

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    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    • A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRI
    Lot 3251 | VARIOUS PROPERTIES /WebsiteLevel/More

    A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRIBED GUAN-TYPE YIXING VASE, CONG

    MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

    Price realised

    HKD 750,000

    Estimate

    HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000

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    A VERY RARE MOULDED AND INSCRIBED GUAN-TYPE YIXING VASE, CONG
    MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY
    The vase is moulded with archaistic ribs at the the corners and double vertical ribs on each side containing an inscription in archaistic script alternating with a stylised scroll design. It is covered in a creamy white glaze suffused with a dense network of dark crackles.
    11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm.) high, box

    Provenance

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    Lot Essay

    The inscriptions can be translated as:
    Longevity like that of Guangchengzi (Daoist immortal), who lived in
    the Kongtong Mountain for a thousand and two hundred years;
    Officialdom as high as that of Guo Ziyi (697-781), who was the
    prime minister overseeing twenty four examinations.
    Interestingly, in a paper published by the Palace Museum researchers
    Cai Yi and Huang Weiwen, an almost identical Yixing vase of the
    same shape and bearing the same inscriptions as the current vase
    was recorded to have been displayed in the Yihe Yuan in the Palace
    inventory, and is now in the collection of the Nanjing Museum. For a detailed discussion of this vase, refer to Cai Yi and Huang
    Weiwen, 'Gugong bowuyuan cang Yixing guayouqi zhengli yu
    yanjiu'
    (Study of a Yixing vessel in the Palace Museum), Waixiao
    ciqi yu yanseyou ciqi yanjiu
    (Compendium of Studies on Export and
    Monochrome Porcelain), Beijing, 2012, p. 539.
    This very rare vase belongs to a group of fine early Yixing wares, often
    of archaistic forms and with Jun or Ge-type glazes. It is recorded that this group of wares were first created by Ou Zhiming, a Yixing teapot
    maker of the Wanli period, hence the prefix Ouyao (Ou
    kiln) is sometimes given to these pieces. A small pouring
    dish of the same type dated to the Ming Dynasty in
    the National Palace Museum is illustrated in Obtaining
    Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperors Taste in
    Ceramics
    , Taipei, 2012, p. 232, no. 108. It was also
    amongst a selection of Qianlong Emperors favourite
    ceramics, to be illustrated as an album with his own
    commentaries (ibid, p. 233, no. 109).

    Other information

    Pre-Lot Text

    VARIOUS PROPERTIES

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