The impressive pear-shaped vase would have been part of an altar set of Buddhist origin commonly referred to as the wugong, which comprises of a censer (xianglu), two candlesticks (zhutai) and two vases (heaping). They were utilized in the halls dedicated to the ancestors in the Imperial palace or in the tombs of high-ranking officials. Woodblock printed books confirmed the existence of these altar sets as early as the Yuan dynasty, although some speculate that they originated in the Southern Song period. The present lot seems to have been casted, with its meticulous decorative motifs hammered and chiseled after casting to define the exquisite form and details, instilling the vase with a crispness often associated with carved lacquer. Compare with an entire five pieces altar set, the vase similarly casted with the six character reign mark, illustrated in China’s Renaissance in Bronze. The Robert H. Clague collection of later bronzes 1100-1900, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993, p.38, pp.180-181. See also a similar altar vase sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2254.

PROVENANCE: Formerly in the Collection of F. Gordon Morrill.