A rare blue and white handled double-gourd vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青花纏枝蓮紋如意耳葫蘆瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款

It is extremely rare to find Qianlong vases of this small size. A vase of this design and form, but of a larger size, was included in the Exhibition of Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 84, and sold in these rooms, 3rd May 1994, lot 174. Compare another vase of this rare form, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 274. See also a related vase of the same shape, decorated with fruiting and flowering sprays, but with the mark and period of Yongzheng, in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1967, pl. 5.