There is only one month to go before Christie’s kicking off its fall auction in Hong Kong. Christie’s is going big for the coming sales of ceramics. There will be a dedicated sale of Ming ceramics from the Le Cong Tang collection and an unprecedented evening sale “Court, Studio, Atelier Chinese Works of Art and Paintings from the Ming Dynasty”.

Christie’s has recently unveiled the details of the other two ceramic sales: “Imperial Qing Monochromes from the J.M. Hu Collection” and “Important Chinese Ceramics from the Dr.James D. Thornton Collection”. In this article, we are going to introduce the former sale.

J.M. Hu (on the right)

Christie’s presents eight lots for the sale, which are all ceramics from the imperial kilns in Qing dynasty. J. M. Hu, the master of the Zande Lou (the Studio of Temporary Enjoyment), was a renowned art collector. He was best known for his collection of ceramics from the imperial kilns in Ming and Qing dynasties. Treasures from his collection are rarely seen in auctions. It is even rarer to have a dedicated sale of great pieces from his collection.  

The most expensive lot at the sale is a Peacock-feather Glazed Garlic-head Vase, estimated at US$836,672 – 965,390. Incised four-character seal mark and of the Yongzheng period (1723-1735), the vase is covered overall with a thick bright turquoise glazed suffused with marbled mottling of deep red and violet tone. The peacock-feather glaze appears to be closely related to the more common robin’s-egg glaze, but the former is much rarer, possibly due to the difficulty in successfully achieving its desired effect.

Coming after the vase is a Ru-type Glazed Gu-shaped Vase, estimated at US$308,925 – 411,900. Incised six-character seal mark of the Qianlong period (1736-1795), the vase is based on the bronze ritual wine vessels known as gu from the Shang and Zhou periods. It appears that the Qianlong Emperor enjoyed vases made in this classical gu shape that he ordered the Superintendent of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, Tang Ying, to fire tianbai vases based on the shape of the classical gu vessels.

There are two pieces that each carries an estimate of US$257,437- 386,156, the third highest estimate of the sale. One is a 22.2cm-tall Guan-type Glazed Pear-shaped Vase with a Qianlong six-character seal mark of the Period (1736-1795). Another one is a 20.1cm-tall Guan-type Glazed Gu-shaped vase, incised Qianlong six-character seal mark of the period (1736-1795).

 

Top Four Lots (sorted by estimates)

A FINE AND VERY RARE PEACOCK-FEATHER GLAZED GARLIC-HEAD VASE
YONGZHENG INCISED FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Lot: 2856
Height: 26.5 cm
Estimate: HK$6,500,000 - 7,500,000 (US$836,672 - 965,390)

A VERY RARE RU-TYPE GLAZED GU-SHAPED VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lot: 2854
Height: 20.6 cm
Estimate: HK$2,400,000 - 3,200,000 (USD$308,925 - 411,900)

A RARE GUAN-TYPE GLAZED PEAR-SHAPED VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lot: 2852
Height: 22.2 cm
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000 (USD$257,437 - 386,156)

A FINE AND RARE GUAN-TYPE GLAZED GU-SHAPED VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lot: 2853
Height: 20.1 cm
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000 (USD 257,437 - 386,156)
 

Other lots at the sale

A FINE GUAN-TYPE GLAZED VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lot no.: 2855
Height: 20 cm
Estimate: HK$1,600,000 - 2,400,000 (USD 205,950 - 308,925)

A FINE PAIR OF GUAN-TYPE GLAZED OCTAGONAL VASES
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lot no.: 2851
Height: 14.3 cm
Estimate: HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000  (USD 128,719 - 193,078)

A FINE AND RARE WHITE-GLAZED ANHUA-DECORATED ‘KUI DRAGON’ VASE
YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Lot no.: 2857
Height: 12.3 cm
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,200,000 (USD 102,975 - 154,462)

A FINE AND RARE WHITE-GLAZED RECTANGULAR HANDLED VASE
YONGZHENG PERIOD (1723-1735)

Lot no.: 2858
Diameter: 11 cm
Estimate: HK$320,000 - 480,000  (USD 41,190 - 61,785)

Auction details

Auction house: Christie’s Hong Kong
Sale: Imperial Qing Monochromes from The J. M. Hu Collection
No. of lot: 8
Viewing:
2017/11/24｜10:30am - 8pm
2017/11/25 - 28｜10:30am - 6:30pm
Auction: 2017/11/29｜2:15pm