A GUAN-TYPE OCTALOBED TRIPOD NARCISSUS BOWL SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

of the eight-sided vessel with curved shallow sides supported on three cabriole feet, covered overall with a soft blue-tinged grey glaze, suffused with an irregular matrix of fine dark-grey crackles, the slightly recessed underside centred with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Apart from some burst air bubbles and a couple of iron spots, including a 0.6 cm one to the interior cavetto (3 o'clock on the catalogue illustration), the overall condition is very good. The actual washer is of an even tone which is more bluish than 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 closely related washer, from the collections of the J.M. Hu family and Robert Chang, was sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 65, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 517; and two were sold in these rooms, 29th April 1998, lot 768, and 24th May 1978, lot 210. See examples covered in a Ru-type glaze, such as one sold in these rooms, 22nd May 1985, lot 222; another sold in our London rooms, 10th November, lot 210; and a smaller washer in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 334. A Guan-type washer of this form and size, but with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, formerly in the Carl Kempe collection and now in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, is published in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collection, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 274; and another with a clair-de-lune glaze, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is included in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 205.

For a Song prototype of this form, compare a washer of the same flower shape but lacking the tripod feet, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum. Southern Sung Kuan Ware, Taipei, 1974, pl. 54.