Lot 138. A fine and large sacrificial blue-glazed bottle vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 46.5 cm, 18 1/2 in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD (254,800 - 382,200 USD). Photo: Sotheby's.
sturdily potted with a pear-shaped body rising from a slightly splayed foot, elegantly sweeping up to a tall cylindrical neck, covered overall in a rich sacrificial blue glaze gradually thinning at the rim and stopping neatly just above the footring, the interior and base glazed white, inscribed to the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.
Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 1978, lot 138.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 17th May 1988, lot 94.
Note: A slightly shorter vase was sold twice in these rooms, 8th November 1982, lot 270, and 8th October 2013, lot 3058. A vase of this type, also bearing a Qianlong seal mark and of the period, from the Walker Art Gallery, now in the Merseyside County Museums, is illustrated in Nigel Wood, Precious Vessels, Liverpool, 1980, pl. 139; and another from the collection of 'Chinese Gordon' (Gordon of Khartoum), is illustrated in W.G. Gulland, Chinese Porcelain, vol. II, London, 1911, pl. 734.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art from the Collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, Hong Kong, 03 oct. 2018, 10:10 AM