A 'ROBIN'S-EGG' BLUE LANTERN VASE INCISED SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

the ovoid shaped body rising to a short waisted neck and supported on a straight foot, applied with two flat vase-shaped mock handles, brightly covered with an opaque turquoise-blue glaze of robin's-egg type suffused overall with a finely mottled dark purplish blue, the base incised with a six-character reign mark all beneath the glaze, the unglazed foot dressed in a brown wash

Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/ Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 179.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 923.

There is a 3 cm hairline crack on the rim, however the overall condition is quite good. The actual colour is actually quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

This so-called 'lantern' shape, with its unusual vase-shaped flanges on either side, originated in the Yongzheng period, when it was made with guan-type and ge-type glazes, but in the Qianlong period it became a characteristic form for the robin's-egg glaze; compare two Yongzheng examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the Imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, pls. 174 and 206.

Similar Qianlong 'robin's-egg' vases are in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated in Qing Kang Yong Qian ming ci tezhan / Catalog of the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Museum Palace [sic], Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 93; in the Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum, see Chūgoku kogei bijutsu sōsho. Chūgoku tōji hen [Chinese arts and crafts series. Chinese ceramics], vol. I: Keitokuchin jiki [Jingdezhen porcelains], Kyoto, 1982, p. 88 bottom left; and one from the Grandidier collection in the Musée Guimet, Paris, is published in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, 1980-82, vol. VII, fig. 184. This shape was still produced in this glaze colour in the Jiaqing period, see a piece in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum's exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 56.