A RARE COPPER-RED POMEGRANATE-SHAPED VASE MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

well potted with an almost spherical body resting on a rimless foot and countersunk base, sweeping up to a short waisted neck and a crown of five pointed sepals forming a calyx mouth, covered overall with a copper-red glaze of deep crimson tone lightly textured with an 'orange peel' effect on the surface, save for the interior and the base left white, the rounded footring left unglazed and fired to pale orange along the edges, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 1978, lot 164.

There is a minute 0.4 cm frit that has been filled in and a burst air bubble to one of the sepals forming the rim. There is another minor burst bubble in one of the cusps on the rim and minute shrinkage in the glaze to another. Otherwise the vase is in very good condition. The actual colour is 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."

A symbol of fertility and synonymous with the word ‘seed’ or ‘offspring’, the pomegranate (zi) was a popular motif from the Ming dynasty; however the use of its shape to form a vase was a Yongzheng innovation.

Vases of this form are known in a wide variety of glazes; see a Ru-type example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 126; a lazurite glazed example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in Guyong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuayo ciqi [Porcelains from the Qing Dynasty Imperial Kilns in the Palace Museum Collection], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 127; and two teadust covered vases, one in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 206, and the other in the Musee Guimet, published in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 47.