A fine Chinese ‘Ge ware’ vase, Yongzheng six character seal mark and of the period, the base with a Bluett and Sons label , accompanied by a matching wood stand

A fine Chinese ‘Ge ware’ vase, Yongzheng six character seal mark and of the period, the base with a Bluett and Sons label , accompanied by a matching wood stand

of typical archaistic ‘hu’ form with a ribbed bulbous body, a slightly spreading foot, elephant head handles to the sides and a slightly flaring neck, covered with an light greenish grey glaze with an irregular ‘fine wire’ dark grey crackle within which are very fine gilt crackle lines, the foot rim dressed in a dark brown wash and the base with a well drawn six character Yongzheng seal mark in underglaze blue and an affixed Bluett and Sons label, the matching stand probably 19^th century.

Provenance : By descent from the vendor’s father who received advice concerning many of his acquisitions from the celebrated English collector H.M.Knight who died in 1970.  Perhaps held in low esteem at the time because of the damage, this vase was used as a lamp, fortunately with a removable metal fitting which, when taken away, revealed a piece in excellent condition apart from the old visible chip at the top.

‘Ge’ and ‘Guan’ type glazes were copied for the court during the eighteenth century and various marked examples are known.  The ‘Ge’pieces tend to have a more matt glaze as here and the crackle lines are more precisely defined.  Two types are known; perhaps the rarer one is as here where the dark grey crackle is combined with a fine gilt floss effect.