Vase couvert en porcelaine dorée, You Chine, dynastie Qing, marque incisée et époque Yongzheng (1723-1735)

de forme balustre aplati sur un pied évasé, l'anse fixe ornée de têtes de cervidés, le couvercle surmonté d'une petite prise quadrilobée, le pied, l'épaulement et la bordure du couvercle décorés d'une frise archaïsante en léger relief, la base avec marque incisée Yongzheng à six caractères en cachet 

The cover is broken in two pieces and restored. The handle is broken and restored in two places, to the upper left, and below right 3 cm above the head of the deer (old restorations). Another small restored chip to the ear of one animal's head. Some rubbing and scratches to the gilt enamels and a few minor glaze gaps inside and beneath the base, but otherwise the vase is in good condition.
"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."

It is rare to find Yongzheng vessels imitating antique gold or gilt-metal vessels and no other related example appears to have been published. Compare a pair of densely gilt-flecked vases and covers carved with archaistic bands of decoration, but on a pale-coffee coloured glaze, with Qianlong reign marks and of the period, from the Laurent Heliot Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 22^nd May 1979, lot 247, and again 17^th May 1988, lot 88. For further Yongzheng mark and period bronze-simulation wares, see an archaistic bianhi vase, sold in our New York rooms, 3^rd June 1987, lot 268; and a globular tripod censer, from the H.R.N. Norton Collection, sold in our London rooms, 26^th March 1963, lot 78, again, 11^th March 1969, lot 129, and a third time in our Hong Kong rooms, 2^nd May 2000, lot 537, from the Hall Family Collection.

The present piece is an example of the creative and technical achievements made under Tang Ying (1682-1756), who was Superintendent of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen from 1729. For a stone tablet entitled 'Orders and Memoranda on Porcelain' on which Tang Ying discusses his efforts to counterfeit bronze vessels, excavated in Jingdezhen in 1915, see Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, p. 60.