A FINE SACRIFICIAL-BLUE OLIVE-SHAPE VASE MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

beautifully potted, the profile rising in three elegant curves to incorporate the body swelling from the splayed foot and tapering gracefully below the trumpet mouth, covered overall in a rich and deep indigo blue, the interior and underside glazed white, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle

The overall condition is excellent except for some minor surface scratches.
"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."

Vases of this elegant shape are specific to the Yongzheng period and these rare vessels were glazed and decorated in various ways to result in some of the finest pieces of the time. The present example is exceptional for its large size and brilliant even glaze; a white-glazed vase of this form and size, with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, was sold in these rooms, 10^th April 2006, lot 1617; and a slightly larger white-glazed example in the Meiyintang collection is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, pt. II, London, 2010, pl. 1779. Two smaller Yongzheng vases of this form in the Palace Museum, Beijing, include one covered with copper-red and another with a Guan-type glaze, are illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. 2, Beijing, 2005, pls 9 and 157 respectively. For the forerunner of this vase see a carved white-glazed example attributed to the Kangxi period, of slightly more slender form and elongated neck and with an apocryphal Chenghua reign mark, published in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, pl. 185.

Vases of this form are also known with the fruiting and flowering peach branches and bats painted in underglaze blue; for example see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated op. cit., pl. 29; another in the Shanghai Museum published in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 175; and a third from the J.M. Hu collection, sold in our New York rooms, 4^th June 1985, lot 25, and again from the collection of Robert Chang, Christie's Hong Kong, 31^st October 2000, lot 815. A unique famille-rose decorated vase of this form and peach design, from the Hon. Ogden R. Reid collection, and now in the Shanghai Museum, was sold in these rooms, 7^th May 2002, lot 532.