AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE CHINESE IMPERIAL TURQUOISE GLASS BOTTLE VASE

QIANLONG DATED 1757

The globular body raised on a slightly tapering foot from which rises a tall cylindrical neck, the body with two poems inscribed on either side, the base with a six character Qianlong mark, 20cm.

One poem reads: 'The clouds loom after the snow; among ten thousand miles of silence, a loud noise hits the ground. I can hear the female deity pushing the vehicle of thunder, and the rain starts pouring down'.

The other poem reads: 'Fan Li (a Chinese merchant who later became the advisor to the King of Yue) travels on lake Tai. The snow covers the bank; the sky is clear and the lake tranquil. The three scholars (Yang Weizheng, Lu Juren and Qian Weishan of the Yan dynasty) are no longer present and the senior official is wise and reliable' (the senior official probably refers to Qu Yuan, a poet and minister during the Warring States period).

Both poems are inscribed with a commentary including Qianlong ding chou chun ri yu bi which translates as the Spring of the ding chou year written by Qianlong, corresponding to 1757.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Sir Percival and Lady David, sold Sotheby's 5th December 1961, lot 136 for £68 to Spink and Son, and later the collection of M H T Hodgson.

The Property of a Gentleman.

Published: the Oriental Ceramic Society, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1963-64, vol.35. Also exhibited and published by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society in their joint exhibition, The Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, London, 26th May - 2nd July 1964. Also published by S Jenyns in Chinese Arts: The Minor Arts, vol.II, 1965, p.144.