A RARE CHINESE IMPERIAL PALE BLUE-GROUND RU-TYPE TWO-HANDLED ARCHAISTIC VASE

SIX CHARACTER YONGZHENG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1723-35

After a bronze form, with a flared ovoid body decorated with four vertical flanges to the neck and foot, with two further flanges and two loop handles at the shoulder, all beneath a pale blue celadon glaze, 33cm.

Provenance: a Scottish private collection acquired in the early 20th century.

The shape of this vase is directly derived from a Shang dynasty bronze lei. For a similar example cf. Sotheby's New York, the Collection of Baron Hisaya Iwasaki, 1st/2nd June 1993, lot 383; see also Imperial Perfection, a Selection from the Wang Xing Lou Collection pp.40-41, no.7 for another Yongzheng vase of this form painted in underglaze blue.