This vase was made in the 18th century for the Qianlong Emperor, who may be regarded as perhaps the greatest imperial collector of the Qing dynasty. Indeed it appears that the vase subsequently retained association with the Qing imperial family and may also be linked with the Japanese imperial family. According to the Japanese inscription on its box the vase was in the possession of Zai Zhen (1876-1948), a great great grandson of the Qianlong Emperor, who was awarded the title of Beizi - fourth rank of nobility in the Chinese imperial hierarchy - and who inherited the title Prince Qing on the death of his father in 1917. Zai Zhen travelled widely. He was sent as the emperor's special envoy to congratulate the British King Edward VII on the occasion of his coronation in June of 1902, and also travelled to Belgium, France and the United States. Significantly he visited Japan in the early 1900s, and according to the inscription on the box he presented this vase to the Japanese imperial family on the 2nd day of the 9th month of the 35th year of the Meiji period (equivalent to 1902). It is also noted in the inscription that on the 15th day of the 8th month of the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Taisho (equivalent to 1914) the vase was bequeathed by Empress Dowager Shoken (1849-1914) by imperial command.

Specifically, the decoration and shape of the present vase was inspired by Western Zhou, 9th century BC, bronze lei, similar to that in the Freer Gallery of Art illustrated by John A. Pope et al., Freer Chinese Bronzes, vol. 1, Washington DC, 1967, pl. 83 (fig. 2). Although in the case of the ceramic form, the shoulder handles of the original bronze were omitted and the neck lengthened in order to give the porcelain vessel a more elegant profile. Crisply cast bands of decoration in a formal broad wave-pattern band, like that on the current vase, can also be seen on the large bronze Xiao Ke ding (fig. 3), in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Zhanlanmulu, Wuzhou quanbo chubanshe, 2004, nos. 68-69; and on the Hu gui, also in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Chen Peifen in Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Shanghai Museum, London, 1995, pp. 74-5, no. 46.

- Rosemary Scott -

Ms. Scott holds an honors degree in Chinese Art and Archaeology from the University of London and undertook post-graduate research into early lacquer and its relation to other materials. Ms. Scott's career has spanned various important positions in her chosen field, including deputy keeper of the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, with curatorial responsibility for Oriental art; curator of the Percival David Foundation, University of London; head of the Museums Department of School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, with responsibility, a.o., for the Brunei Gallery. She has also taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and published books, catalogues, and scholarly journals on Chinese ceramics, lacquer and silk textiles