A fine and rare Imperial green glass vase, Yongzheng incised four-character mark within double squares and of the period (1723-1735). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2014
The bottle vase with flaring sides rising to the rounded shoulders, surmounted by a long slightly tapering neck. The countersunk base is incised with the reign mark within double squares. The metal is of an opaque pea-green tone.; 8 3/4 in. (22.4 cm.) high. Estimate HK$1,500,000 - HK$2,000,000 ($194,359 - $259,145). Price Realized HK$2,680,000 ($347,174)
Provenance: Edward T. Chow Collection
Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 2005, lot 548
Exhibited: Baur Collection, One Man's Taste: Treasures from the Lakeside Pavilion, Geneva, 1988-1989, Catalogue, no. G4
Notes Yongzheng-marked vases of this opaque pea-green colour, in imitation of celadon ceramic wares made in Longquan and Jingdezhen, are very rare with very few related examples. One similar example, also bearing a Yongzheng mark in double squares, is known, in the Franz Collection and illustrated by Emily Byrne Curtis, Pure Brightness Shines Everywhere. The Glass of China, Burlington, 2004, no. 8.2. Another Yongzheng-marked glass vase of very similar colour but with a more globular body and taller ring foot is in the Andrew K.F. Lee Collection, illustrated in Elegance and Radiance. Grandeur in Qing Glass, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 9.
Qianlong-marked glass vases of similar shape and colour are also known, including one in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Luster of Autumn Water. Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshops, Beijing, 2005, pl. 21; one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, June 2011, lot 3802; and one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, April 1992, lot 971.
Christie's. IMPERIAL CHINESE TREASURES FROM A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN COLLECTION, 28 May 2014, Hong Kong .http://www.christies.com/