FLAMBE-GLAZED VASE QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD

This rare vase is remarkable for its vibrant hues of ruby streaked with lavender, created in imitation of the celebrated Jun wares of the Song period. By the Qing dynasty, Jun wares were regarded as objects of admiration at court as well as amongst literati connoisseurs and wealthy merchant collectors. The Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors sought to reproduce the beautiful glaze effects and graceful forms of Jun wares by commissioning copies from the imperial workshops at Jingdezhen. The streaks characteristic of this glaze are known as yaobian (‘transmutation glaze’). 

Vases of this type are rare and only a small number of related examples are known. Compare one, formerly in the collection of the Rt. Hon. Lord Hollenden, sold in our London rooms, 27th November 1973, lot 349. Another, acquired from Yamanaka & Co. Beijing, in 1919, was sold at Christie's London, 9th November 2010, lot 218.

Vases of this form are also recorded in other monochrome glazes, evocative of Song dynasty wares. Compare a number of Qianlong mark and period Ge-type vases, including one illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 877; Compare a similar vase sold in our London rooms, 10th June 1986, lot 291, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 519. A third example was first sold in our London rooms, 12th July 2006, lot 134, and again in the same rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 217.