A RARE TEADUST GLAZED DOUBLE-GOURD HANDLED VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

rising from a wide flat base, the well-potted body with gently rounded shoulders sweeping up to a waisted neck encircled with a raised filet below a 'garlic-bulb' mouth, flanked by a pair of ruyi sceptre handles, covered evenly overall with a speckled olive green glaze, thinning to russet brown along the edges and around the mouth, the countersunk base incised with the six-character seal mark, original wood stand

A Kyoto Collection.
Sold at the Tokyo Bijitsu Club, April 1918, lot 3.

There is a fine hairline crack which runs around one handle, just above the ruyi-head at the upper bulb, which has been retouched. Otherwise the vase is overall in very good condition, with an even, very well-fired glaze.
"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 unusual double-gourd form covered in teadust glaze are rare although a similar example was sold in these rooms, 21st May 1979, lot 126; and another was sold in our London rooms, 10th December 1985, lot 271. See also a slightly larger teadust glazed double-gourd vase, with a pronounced globular lower body, from the J.M. Hu collection, offered in our New York rooms, 1st June 1985, lot 35, also with a Qianlong seal mark and of the period.

Qianlong vases of this form closely follow the Yongzheng prototypes; see a Yongzheng vase decorated with fruiting and flowering sprays in underglaze-blue, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Book I, Hong Kong, 1967, pl. 5.

Vases of this type can also be found decorated in underglaze-blue and in the famille-rose palette. For a blue-and-white example see a Qianlong vase included in the Exhibition of Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of 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. A  famille-rose Qianlong vase of this shape painted with flowers and butterflies is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 962.