A RARE 'RU-TUPE' NARCISSUS BOWL YONGZHENG MARK AND PERIOD

the octagonally lobed body with rounded sides rising from a slightly concave base to an everted rim, all supported on three short cabriole legs and covered overall in a pale bluish-grey glaze

Ju and Kuan Wares, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1952, cat. no. 110. 

Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 274.

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 201.

Chinese Ceramic Treasures, a Selection from the Ulricehamn East Asian Museum, Including The Carl Kempe Collection. The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 420.

There is a 13cm., crack to the base which radiates in two directions to its centre in the interior (5 & 2.5mm). There is an area of widespread crazing to the base. There is a small 1.5mm diameter pitted hole to the edge of one side of the base. But overall in good presentation state.
"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."

It is extremely rare to find Yongzheng narcissus bowls of this elegant mallow-form although the type is well known from later, Qianlong period, examples. For example see a Qianlong mark and period tripod vessel of this form with a crackled glaze, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 24^th May 1978, lot 210, and illustrated in Sotheby's Hong Kong – Twenty years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 326; and another from the collections of J. M. Hu and Robert Chang, sold in our New York rooms, 4^th June 1985, lot 65, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 2^nd November 1999, lot 517.

Vessels of this type were made after Song prototypes; see a Song vessel of similar shape but without the tripod feet published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum. Southern Sung Kuan Ware, Taipei, 1974, cat. no. 54. Both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors had keen interest in the revival of antiquities, hence Song period shapes and glazes were imitated and wares were commissioned to be made in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. A bulb bowl, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in W. B. Honey, The Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries, London, 1945, pl. 43B, was possibly made in the attempt to pass off as a Song period original as the mark on the base had been ground off the bowl.