Page 256 - March 17 2017 Chinese Art NYC, Christies

THE PROPERTY OF A MIDWEST COLLECTOR

1244
AN ARCHAISTIC GUAN-TYPE BEAKER VASE, GU

QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD
(1736-1795)
The spreading foot and central section are applied with four fanges while the trumpet-shaped neck is
left plain, and the vase is covered overall with an unctuous glaze of pale greyish-blue color sufused with
attractive golden crackle. The foot ring has a dark brown dressing.
7º in. (18.4 cm.) high
$60,000-80,000

PROVENANCE

Calvin Verity House, Middletown, Ohio, acquired in 1985.
The form of the present vase is based on the bronze ritual wine vessels known as gu from the Shang and
Zhou periods. The form enjoyed further popularity as the inspiration for Song-dynasty imperial wares,
including ceramics covered with Guan and Ge glazes, notable for their pale greyish-blue color and
distinctive crackle, often fnished on the foot with a brown dressing. The present vase refects this rich
history, in its conscious imitation of earlier forms and glazes. The Qianlong Emperor was particularly
interested in antiquities and reviving the traditions of the past: by these means he intended both to
consolidate the position of the Manchu-born Qing dynasty within the long history of China, and to
restore what he regarded as the superior moral rectitude of ancient times.
Compare a pair of slightly smaller (17.2 cm. high) fanged gu-shaped vases with Ru-type glaze illustrated
in Qing Imperial Monochromes – The Zande Lou Collection, Shenzhen, 2005, no. 26, where the author
notes that according to records, Tang Ying was ordered by the Qianlong Emperor to fre some fanged
gu vases, with drawings prepared by draftsmen in the Imperial Household Workshops. See, also, a
further example with Guan-type glaze and slightly less pronounced fanges, illustrated ibid., no. 36.
清乾隆 仿官釉觚式瓶 六字篆書款

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