AN EXQUISITE FLAMBE-GLAZED CENSER WITH HANDLES INCISED SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

the bombé sides rising from a thick straight foot to a slightly waisted neck, the sides flanked by a pair of slender looped handles, covered on the exterior with a smooth and glossy brilliant raspberry glaze transmuting to a plum-coloured glaze with milky streaks drizzling down from the cream-rimmed mouth, the interior evenly streaked with a milky lavender-blue glaze cascading down resembling a waterfall,  gathering in the unctious swirling pool of sky-blue glaze concentrating on the base of the interior, the underside dressed in a thin toffee-coloured glaze covering the incised six-character reign mark

Acquired in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s.

Zandelou Qingdai guanyao danseyou ciqi/Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zandelou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 48.

Helen D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collection of Chinese Ceramics from the Pavilion of Ephemeral Attainment, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1950, pl. 190.

The glaze is extremely glossy with virtually no pitting. The foot has a small firing crack to the unglazed body and one original 4 mm chip to the foot filled in with a brown ceramic repair. The glaze on the interior has one 1 cm glaze gap. The overall condition is very good. The actual colour is quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

Flambé-glazed incense burners are rarely found with an imperial reign mark, and this fine shape is better known with other glazes. Compare, for example, a censer of Qianlong mark and period with a Ru-type glaze in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 87.