A FINE AND VERY RARE PAIR OF ARCHAISTIC CELADON-GROUND GILT-DECORATED VASES SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

based on Western Zhou period bronzes, each with a pear-shaped body supported on a slightly splayed foot and rising gently to the waisted neck and flared lipped mouth, flanked by a pair of moulded mythical animal masks suspending mock-ring handles, applied overall with a pale caesious green glaze and painted in gilt, the body with confronting dragons forming interlocking 'S' design interspersed with bat-like clouds, between a lappet band skirting the foot and ruyi and classic scroll bands below a broad stylised wave band encircling the neck, the mouth with lappets pendant from a key-fret border

J.M. Hu Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26th October 1993, lot 291.
Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 737. 

Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 148. 

Apart from a little light wear to the gilding on each of the vases, the overall condition is extremely good. The horns on one of the handles has a little more wear than the others. The actual colour is slightly greener than in the catalogue illustration, which shows them as being slightly bluer. The glaze colours are very well matched. Updated condition report: a very minute tip of the nose of the animal mask handle has been lightly restored.
"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."

These remarkably well-preserved vases are rare for the archaistic design that covers the entirety of the surface, although a group of Qianlong vessels imitating bronzes are known either with raised designs inspired by archaic bronzes or with gilt in imitation of later silver and gold inlaid bronzes. Compare a pair of gilt vases with raised archaistic decorative bands sold in these rooms, 17th May 1988, lot 88, together with a parcel-gilt 'gold-splashed' and 'inlaid' bulb bowl, lot 89.

 The present vases appear to belong to the group of eighteenth century wares with 're-interpretations' of earlier designs, combining contemporary ruyi motifs with archaic themes. A Qianlong celadon-glazed hu vase carved with a related design, from the W.W. Winkworth collection, sold in these rooms, 29th November 1979, lot 370, was included in the Special Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's, London, 1993, cat. no. 72; a white-glazed 'soft paste' version, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 268; and a Yongzheng example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1989, p. 276, pl. 105.

Imperial records of the Qianlong period note that the emperor urged the craftsmen working in the imperial workshops to follow the styles and specifications recorded in ancient catalogues. Thus, the archaic pear-shaped hu ritual bronze that served as the prototype for the present vases also inspired vessels of this type to be produced in various materials; for example see two related jade hu vases, one with a Qianlong fanggu (imitating antiquity) mark, from the collection of Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson, sold in our London rooms, 8th June 1982, lot 315; and a slightly later example sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2870. For the original Western Zhou bronze vessel, see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Possessing the Past, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996, cat. no. 42.