A fine teadust glazed vase, fang hu. Seal mark and period of Qianlong

A fine teadust glazed vase, fang hu. Seal mark and period of Qianlong. photo Sotheby's

of archaistic fang hu form, the hexagonal body supported on a pronounced foot, gently curving at the shoulders to a flared neck, flanked by a pair of tubular loop handles, covered all over in rich mottled dark olive-green glaze, the base with a moulded six-character reign mark, hardwood stand - 45.4 cm., 17 7/8 in. Est. 2,000,000—3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 4,580,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: The Toguri Collection, Tokyo.
Sotheby's London, 9th June 2004, lot 3.

EXHIBITED: The Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo.

NOTE: A Qianlong vase of this shape and size, also with a teadust glaze, is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics from the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 965; another smaller vase from the W.W. Winkworth collection was sold in these rooms, 12th December 1972, lot 130, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th May 1977, lot 158. A smaller vase of this form from the Hall Family collection and included in the exhibition Iron in the Fire, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1988, cat. no. 89, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 556. Compare also a similar vase with a sky-blue glaze in the Hakutsuru Art Museum, Kobe, illustrated in Sekai tôji zenshû, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1956, fig. 46.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 08 Apr 10. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com