A FINE AND RARE 'RU'-TYPE BOTTLE VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

the well potted globular body resting on a slightly splayed foot, rising to a tall waisted neck flaring at the mouth, covered overall in an unctuous soft bluish-grey glaze, the unglazed footring dressed with a dark brown slip, inscribed to the base with the six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue

Purchased in China in 1886 (by repute).
Christie's New York, 21st March 2002, lot 237. 

On loan at the City Museum of St. Louis, 1911-1944.

The vase is in excellent condition overall, with only light surface scratches to the interior neck. The colour is a softer and warmer grey-blue than the illustration suggests. The glaze is particularly rich and unctous.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Qianlong vases of this form and glaze are extremely rare, although a very similar vessel of slightly smaller proportions, from the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan, included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, exhibition in 1907 and published in the accompanying catalogue by Stephen W. Bushell and William N. Laffan, Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, New York, 1907, cat.no. 24, and later included in the exhibition Qing Mark and  Period Monochrome and Two-Coloured Wares, S. Marchant and Son, London, 1992, cat.no. 30, sold in these rooms, 30th April 1996, lot 397.

See also a smaller Qianlong vase (26 cm) of this elegant form covered in a pale-blue glaze, from the British Rail Pansion Fund, sold in our London rooms, 8th July 1975, lot 188, and again in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 48; and another smaller vase sold in these rooms, 25th April 2004, lot 258.

Compare also a smaller Qianlong vase from the Edward T. Chow collection covered with a rich lapis blue glaze sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 84; and one with a clair-de-lune glaze, in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, University of Durham, illustrated in Laszlo Legeza, A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Malcolm Macdonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1972, pl. CV, no. 282.