A RARE FLAMBE-GLAZED VASE, HU SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG |

the ovoid body supported on a splayed foot rising to a waisted neck, moulded with two horizontal ribs around the high shoulder and the neck, set with a pair of animal mask handles suspending fixed rings, the exterior covered with a rich glaze of mottled crushed-raspberry tone streaked with lavender draining away from the mouthrim and the handles to reveal a creamy-mushroom tone, the interior displaying streaks of rich purple highlighted with milky cascades of sky-blue, the foot unglazed exposing the biscuit, the base glazed golden-brown with patches of green and incised with a four-character seal mark

Sotheby's London, 10th June 1986, lot 292.

There are some minute glaze flakes to the surface of the vase, shallow kiln flakes to the foot and faint firing lines running across the footring, all typical of this type.
"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."

Covered in a rich crushed-raspberry coloured glaze with lavender streaks, wares of this type were highly favoured by the Yongzheng Emperor who commissioned copies of Jun wares to be produced at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. Also known as yaobian (transmutation glaze), Tang Ying (1682-1756), Superintendent of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, recorded that potters were sent to Junzhou, Henan province in the 7th year of the Yongzheng reign (1729) to investigate the recipe for producing Jun glazes. Recent studies on flambé glaze has revealed that this new recipe required the application of a layer of copper-blue glaze with traces of lead, over a layer of red glaze, which when fired created the striking streaks so admired by the Emperor. The form has its roots in archaic bronze hu vessels, and the trend for archaism as initiated by the Emperor is evident in the mask-head handles and raised ribs encircling the vase; see a closely related example sold in our London rooms, 13th July 2005, lot 204. Vases of this type, also incised with Yongzheng reign marks and of the period, were produced with slight variations in form and decoration; one with a waisted neck and collared mouthrim, from the Hall Family Collection, was sold twice in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 536, and 10th April 2006, lot 1604; another with a pair of loop handles suspending a fixed buckle-shaped ring on the shoulder, was sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3107; and a vase with a rounded body rising to a waisted and slightly flaring neck, the shoulders moulded with handles and fixed rings suspending tassels, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 805, and again in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3619.

For a prototype to the form of this vase, see a bronze hu excavated in 1971 from a Western Han tomb dated to before 179 BC at Qianping, Yichang, Hubei province, illustrated in 'Yichang qianping zhanguo lianghan mu [Warring States and Han tombs in Qianping, Yichang]', Kaogu xuebao/Acta Archaeological Sinica, 1976, no. 2, p. 124, fig. 12.