A rare celadon-glazed incised 'lotus' archaistic square vase, Qianlong incised seal mark and period (1736-1795)

Lot 25. A rare celadon-glazed incised 'lotus' archaistic square vase, Qianlong incised seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 23 cm, 9 in. Estimate: 80,000 - 120,000 GBP. Lot sold 100,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

the tapered square body rising to a waisted neck and lipped rim, each corner applied with a stylised kui dragon handle, each side of the body finely incised with dense scrolling foliage bearing large lotus blossoms, all between bands of pendant ruyi heads and lappet borders, the neck similarly incised with upright stylised floral motifs, applied overall with a lustrous sea-green glaze thinning along the edges and pooling to a darker tone within the incised design, the base with an incised six-character seal mark.

Note: This vase is remarkable for its pleasing proportions, watery celadon glaze and subtly incised floral scroll. It encapsulates the prevailing taste at the Qianlong court for porcelain that adapted familiar forms and combined them with novel designs. The facetted shape and four dragon handles were inspired by archaic bronze vessels of the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BC), while its incised feathery scroll is strongly indebted to French Rococo. The craftsman who made this piece successfully adapted the somewhat austere archaic bronze shape to the sophisticated taste of the Qing court by diminishing the size of the four handles and incising the body with a luxuriant scroll. 

Vases of this unusual form and incised with a floral scroll are rare. A vase of similar form but with an incised floral scroll rendered in gilt, formerly in the Robert Chang Collection, was included in the exhibition Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's London, 1993, cat. no. 113, then sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 246. Compare also with a pair of reticulated vases of related form but larger size, similarly fashioned with four dragon-shaped handles on the neck and decorated in famille-rose enamels against a celadon ground, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th May 2007, lot 1370.

For the prototype of this form, see a bronze fanghu with large dragon handles at the four corners, attributed to the 4th century BC, unearthed in Pingshan, Hebei province, and illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, Dong Zhou [Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes. Eastern Zhou], vol. 9, Beijing, 1997, pl. 154.

Sotheby's. Imperial Porcelain - A Private Collection, London, 6 november 2019