Page 101 - Sothebys HK Dragon Emperor April 2024

fig. 5. A guan ware celadon-glazed octagonal vase, Southern Song - fig. 6. A guan-type octagonal vase, Qing dynasty, the base inscribed
Yuan dynasty, the base inscribed with an imperial poem and dated with an imperial poem and dated to the 50th year of the Qianlong
to the 37th year of the Qianlong period (1772), h. 21.5 cm, Qing period (1785), h. 23.3 cm, Qing court collection, Palace Museum,
court collection, Palace Museum, Taipei, accession no. Gu ci 17701 Taipei, accession no. Gu ci 14086

Several comparable celadon-glazed octagonal vases are and had been treasured for decades in Japan before
preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei. Two examples of breaking the highest price record of guan ware in these
this size and with dark-brown coloured feet are included rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 1.
in Yu Pei-chin, Obtaining Refined Enjoyment: The
Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics, Taipei, 2012, cat. Cloaked in unctuous glazes suffused with fine crackles,
nos 31-32, each inscribed on the base with an imperial guan wares have been treasured for their timeless
poem composed by the Qianlong Emperor praising beauty. They were copied from the very beginning by
the items’ outstanding quality (accession nos Gu ci the Longquan and later Jingdezhen kilns throughout
16924 and Gu ci 17701, fig. 5). Despite their differences the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Qing court even sent
from the guan vessels
archaeological The silhouette of the present vase echoes that of the in the imperial
examples, collection to
the museum glass bottle vases from the Near East. the Jiangxi
attributes them manufactory
to the Southern for replication.
Song to Yuan This type of octagonal vase is extremely rare, and Indeed,
dynasties only a handful of extant examples are known [...] this type of
because of octagonal vase
their stylistic Among them is the renowned Ataka octagonal vase was much
reference [...] which shares the same pedigree as the present copied in the
to foreign Qing dynasty.
glassware (ibid., vase; Edward T. Chow handled it merely a few years
p. 107; fig. 2). after selling the present vase. A self-
Compared to proclaimed
the present collector and
vase, the mouths of the Taipei vases are more flared, connoisseur of
their silhouettes curvier, especially at the base of the antiques, the Qianlong Emperor must have welcomed all
necks. sorts of tributes alleged to be Song guan wares, which
could be challenging to verify. He praised an octagonal
Only one other vase of this form and size is in private vase with a thicker body and more compressed
hands. Formerly in the collection of John Henry Levy, lower section as an outstanding Song example and
it demonstrates similar angularity through its everted even composed a dedicated poem (Palace Museum,
mouth and well-defined edges, covered in a milkier Taipei, accession no. Gu ci 14086; fig. 6). As various
celadon glaze suffused with golden-brown crackles (fig. archaeological studies have become available in recent
4). It carries an extensive exhibition and publication years, it has since been re-catalogued as a Qing imitation
history which goes back to the 1960s. It made its debut due to apparent discrepancies in form and glaze from
at auction on 8th July 1975 in our London rooms, lot 68, the Song prototypes.
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