Two tea-dust-glazed bottle vases. Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong

A fine tea-dust-glazed bottle vase. Seal mark and period of Qianlong. Photo Sotheby's

the elegantly potted globular body rising from a flaring foot to a tall cylindrical neck with cup-shaped mouth, covered with a densely flecked olive-green glaze paling at the rim and around the shoulder, an incised seal mark to the recessed base; 19.5 cm., 7 7/8 in. Estimate 600,000—800,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,180,000 HKD

NOTE: A Qianlong vase of this form covered with a similar strikingly deep tea-dust glaze is illustrated in Porcelains from the Tianjin Municipal Museum, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 162; and another closely related vase is published in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pl. 135. Compare also a third example included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.2, London, 1994, pl. 935.

See also a vase of this form, glaze and size, from the collection of Countess Edith Schoenborn-Buckhem, sold at Christie's New York, 2nd December 1989, lot 301; and another from the Goldschmidt Collection, sold in these rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 64.

The exact identity of the tea-dust glaze remains uncertain, however, it was during Yongzheng's reign that the repertoire of the Jingdezhen imperial kilns was expanded to include a wide variety of glaze colours, textures and effects, for which evocative names, such as 'tea-dust', were devised. For example, one type of tea-dust glaze which has a striking mottled pattern was called 'eel-skin' after this elongated fish, a traditional culinary delicacy in China.

A tea-dust-glazed bottle vase. Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong. Photo Sotheby's

of elegant pear shape, with a swelling ovoid body rising from a short splayed foot to a slender neck, covered overall in a yellow-speckled olive-green glaze, the base incised with a six-character seal mark, the foot and mark dressed in a brown slip; 33 cm., 13 in. Estimate 150,000—200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 680,000 HKD

Sotheby's. Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 08 Apr 11, Hong Kong www.sothebys.com