A 'LANGYAO' BOTTLE VASE QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

the pear-shaped body surmounted by a tall slender neck and gently everted rim, supported on narrow recessed base and low tapered foot, covered with a copper-red glaze of deep crushed-strawberry colour draining to white from the rim and suffused throughout with a network of fine crackles, the glaze transmuting to a green-tinged transparent glaze toward the foot and neatly stopping above the unglazed footring revealing the white body beneath, the interior and the base reserved in white

Collection of W.C. Alexander.
Sotheby's London, 7th May 1931, lot 235.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Clark.
Sotheby's London, 25th March 1975, lot 145.
Sotheby's London, 10th December 1991, lot 279.
The Jingguantang Collection.
Christie's New York, 20th March 1997, lot 107.

Austelling Chinesischer Kunst, Preussische Akadermie der Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 817.
Exhibition of Monochrome Porcelain of the Ming and Manchu Dynasties, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1948, cat. no. 117.

Edgar E. Bluett, ‘Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Clark, pt. VI’, Apollo, May 1934, p. 236, fig. 1.
The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 4.

The bottle vase is in overall very good condition. There is small crackle in the glaze extending on the mouthrim from one of the glaze crackles on the neck (likely to be original to the piece), and a minute air bubble on the interior of the rim opposite to it.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A related vase, but with a slightly more slender neck, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pl. 550; a slightly larger example, from the Pierpont Morgan collection, was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2298; and a third vase is published in A.W. Bahr, Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China, London, 1911, pl. XXVI.