AN IRON-RED GARLIC-MOUTHED BOTTLE VASE QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG PERIOD

the rounded body supported by a spreading foot rising to a tall cylindrical neck bulging at the mouth, the exterior covered overall  with an orange-red glaze, applied at the shoulder and around the neck with a gilt qilong, with long sinuous body, the interior and base glazed white

From the Collection of Edward T. Chow.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th November 1980, lot 83.
Christie's Hong Kong, 7th July 2003, lot 670.

A Yongzheng marked globular coral-glazed bottle vase with a dragon encircling the cylindrical neck was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat.no. 2725, from the S.D. Winkworth collection. See also a white-glazed Yongzheng vase sold in our London rooms, 26th April 1966, lot 91, from the Huth Collection.  

Applied decoration on ceramics was a typical Yuan invention; see a qingbai vase of the Yuan dynasty, decorated around the neck in applied high relief with a spiky dragon in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' sold in our New York rooms, 7th November 1980, lot 87, from the Eugene Bernat collection. This type of decoration was also favoured by Dehua potters; an example of a Dehua vase with an applied qi dragon is published in Rose Kerr and John Ayers, Blanc de Chine, Chicago, 2002, pl. 100, together with a tankard and a winepot with handles in the form of a curled dragon, pls. 101 and 102.