KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

The elegant shape of this vase may be referred to as both liuye zun ('willow-leaf vase’) as well as Guanyin ping, a reference to the similarly shaped vessel held by many figures of Guanyin that is said to contain ambrosia or a magic elixir. The amphora form is one of the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', eight specific vessels covered in a peachbloom glaze for the scholar’s table.

Similar Kangxi-marked amphoras are in major institutions worldwide including the Palace Museum, Beijing, the Shanghai Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the Baur Collection, Geneva. See, also, the example from the Junkunc Collection sold at Christie's New York, 18-19 March 2021, lot 856, as well as one from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1230.