QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A GE-TYPE FACETED PEAR-SHAPED FANGHU-FORM VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
Of faceted pear shape, the vase is molded in low relief on the two broad sides with large peach-shaped panels and the neck with indented corners is flanked by a pair of rectangular lug handles. The vase is covered overall with a pale grey glaze suffused with dark grey ('iron wire') crackle suffuzed with a faint gold ('golden thread') crackle.
11 7/8 in. (30 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

Provenance

Private collection, Japan, 1960s.

Special notice

Please note that this lot is subject to an import tariff. The amount of the import tariff due is a percentage of the final hammer price plus buyer's premium. The buyer should contact Post Sale Services prior to the sale to determine the estimated amount of the import tariff. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address the buyer will not be required to pay the import tariff, but the shipment may be delayed while awaiting approval to export from the local government. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a domestic address, if the buyer collects the property in person, or if the buyer arranges their own shipping (whether domestically or internationally), the buyer will be required to pay the import tariff. For the purpose of calculating sales tax, if applicable, the import tariff will be added to the final hammer price plus buyer's premium and sales tax will be collected as per The Buyer's Premium and Taxes section of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The glaze on this rare vase is based on one of the 'Five famous wares of the Song dynasty' - Ge ware. The other four famous wares are Ru, Guan, Ding and Jun. All five of these Song dynasty wares 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. In some instances, he even had pieces inscribed Qianlong fang gu (literally, ‘Qianlong copying the ancient’).

The Ge-type glaze on the current vase is especially successful, reproducing the close crackle and slight translucency of the glaze to very good effect. Two Song dynasty hu-form vases which may have inspired the present vase, from the Qing Court Collection, are illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 33 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 45, no. 39 (with a Ge glaze), and p. 113, no. 101 (Longquan ware, with a celadon glaze). Compare, also, the Qianlong fanghu-shaped Ge-type vase, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1987, no. 960.

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