With an elegant, slender silhouette, the present vase attests to the ingenuity with which historical precedents were used in the creation of new works in order to meet the Yongzheng Emperor's exacting standards for quality and antiquarian taste. The delicacy of the potting encapsulates the pinnacle of ceramic refinement and reflects the temperament of the Emperor himself.

The present object is extremely rare and only one companion vase appears to have been recorded. That companion was sold three t.mes s in these rooms, 15th May 1990, lot 135, again on 29th April 1997, lot 408, and a third t.mes , 8th April 2011, lot 3117, included in Sotheby's Hong Kong, Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 171, as well as Sotheby's. Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 265.

Those who are familiar with the visual history of China can easily identity the fusion of various historical references. Topped with a bulbed mouth and flanked by a pair of animal mask handles, this attractive vase is closely related in form to early bronze wine vessels hu. See an example with a similar lobed bulb published in Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler collects ions, New York, 1995, no. 52. A line drawing of a related bronze vase, attributed to the Han dynasty, is published in Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collects ion of the Qianlong Emperor], vol. 22, p. 16 (fig. 1). The mouth, modelled to simulate a dainty blossoming lotus bud, appears to have been inspired by mid-15th century prototypes. See two Ming dynasty examples, one sold in these rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1557, and the other, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, col. pl. 33, line drawing, p. 89, fig. 151(3), sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 113 (fig. 2). The turbulent waves collaring the slender neck of the present vase, together with the composite floral scroll on the pear-shaped body – both stippled to imitate the ‘heaping and piling’ effect of early Ming porcelains – are an homage to the canons of the preceding dynasty.

Porcelains such as this vase not only advertise the ruler’s respect for the past but also emphasise historical continuity, subtly asserting the legitimacy of their Manchurian patron’s rule of an empire comprising mainly of Han Chinese.

Rising undefiled from impure muddy waters, the lotus was frequently associated with literati, as it is symbolic of purity, integrity and the Confucian notion of virtue. It is also closely associated with Buddhism, symbolising the power of the soul to emerge from the physical world, samsara, and to achieve enlightenment. Obviously aware of these traditional notions the Yongzheng Emperor, similar to his predecessors, continued to sponsor artworks featuring such motifs. In an album leaf, now in the collects ion of the Palace Museum, Beijing, he even had himself painted as a scholar in traditional Han-style robes with a feather fan, leaning against a window overlooking a pond of blooming lotuses (The Complete collects ion of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Paintings by the Court Artists of the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 16.6).

Compare also Yongzheng vases of the same form and with the same mark with a variety of fine monochrome glazes: a vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, decorated in relief under a celadon glaze with archaistic dragons, phoenix and scrolls below a band of stiff leaves, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum collects ion, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 270, pl. 99, together with a second vase enveloped in a robin’s egg glaze, p. 291, pl. 120; a celadon-glazed vase, included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 331; a further pair of celadon examples, illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur collects ion Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, vol. III, Geneva, 1972, nos A362-3, together with a teadust-glazed example, no A391; and a flambé-glazed vase in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. pl. 65.

Charles Anderson Dana (fig. 3) was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. He was an American journalist, author, and senior government official. He joined Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune as its managing editor in 1847 and left the Tribune in 1862 due to differences with Greeley. He served as Assistant Secretary of War from 1863 to 1865. In 1868, he became editor and part-owner of the New York Sun.

Dana was an avid collects or of Chinese porcelain, particularly blue and whites from the Kangxi period of Qing dynasty, as well as early Song and Ming pieces. His collects ion also consisted of Japanese and Korean works of art. Dana’s collects ion was sold in February in 1898 in New York.

此瓶線條流麗，形姿婀娜，造型、紋飾以古為範，然搭配新穎，古為今用，切合君主崇古尚雅之好，見證雍正御瓷的精益求精、一絲不苟。

此瓶極為珍罕，僅另見一例傳世，三度經香港蘇富比拍出，分別為1990年5月15日，編號135、1997年4月29日，編號408、2011年4月8日，編號3117，收錄在《香港蘇富比二十週年》，香港，1993年，圖版171，以及《香港蘇富比三十週年》，香港，2003年，圖版265。

觀此瓶，熟悉中國藝史者定必聯想到前朝雅器。此類仿古瓷器，不止頌揚君主慕古之好，同時強調朝代更迭、古今相通，間接宣示滿族管治中原的正統性。蓮苞式口、獸面鋪首，均取材於高古銅壺。參考一蒜頭口銅壺，收錄於蘇芳淑，《Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler collects ions》，紐約， 1995年，編號52。相類銅器，《西清古鑑》且有收錄（圖一），可資比對。此瓶口作蓮花，含苞待放，或受十五世紀中期瓷器啟迪。明代雛例，可參考2007年10月9日經香港蘇富比拍出之瓶，編號1557。另有一例，收錄在耿寶昌，《明清瓷器鑑定》，香港，1993年，彩圖版33，線描圖，頁89，圖151(3)，2018年3月20日經紐約蘇富比易手，編號113（圖二）。纖頸上之波濤，以及瓶腹上之纏枝花卉紋，青料堆點，更是刻意仿傚明初御瓷黑疵。

晉陶淵明愛蓮，謂其「出污泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖；中通外直，不蔓不枝；香遠益清，亭亭淨植，可遠觀而不可褻玩焉」，恰與儒家君子之道同。而佛教傳統中，蓮花尤為重要，有超脫輪回、涅槃得道的象徵，佛祖初生，步步生蓮，諸佛菩薩又皆承蓮座，正因此故。雍正帝定必深諳蓮花之義，當朝屢製以蓮為飾之品，更命畫家為他繪行樂圖冊，冊頁中胤禛喬裝書生，手執羽扇，憑窗觀蓮，圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．清代宮廷繪畫》，香港，1996年，圖版16.6。

青花類例，僅止一器，但有署相類雍正款之單色釉蓮口瓶可資比較。北京故宮博物院有藏粉青釉浮雕仿古龍鳳蓮口瓶，收錄於《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989年，頁270，圖版99，同書並載一爐鈞釉例，頁291，圖版120。另一粉青釉例，曾展於《特別展：中国の陶磁》，東京國立博物館，東京，1994年，編號331。鮑氏典藏且有粉青對瓶及一茶葉末釉例，刊於約翰．艾爾斯，《The Baur collects ion Geneva. Chinese Ceramics》，卷III，日內瓦，1972年，編號A362-3及A391。倫敦維多利亞與艾伯特博物館藏也有一窰變釉瓶，收入約翰．艾爾斯，《Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum》，倫敦，1980年，彩圖版65。

此瓶原為查爾斯．安德森．達納（圖三）收藏。他出生於新罕布什爾州欣斯代爾，乃美國新聞記者、作家和政府高級官員。他於1847年加入霍勒斯．格里利（Horace Greeley）的《紐約論壇報（New York Tribune）》擔任主編，由於與格里利（Greeley）的分歧，1862年離開論壇報。從1863年到1865年，他擔任戰爭部助理部長。1868年，他更成為《紐約太陽報》的編輯及合夥人。

達納是中國瓷器的狂熱收藏者，尤其是清代康熙時期的青花瓷器，以及宋代早期和明代的瓷器。他的收藏還包括日本和韓國的藝術品。其收藏在1898年2月於紐約拍賣。