A BLUE-GLAZED CONG-FORM VASE WITH ELEPHANT HANDLES, DAOGUANG MARK AND PERIOD
China, 1821-1850. The square vase with a characteristic circular foot ring and mouth rim, applied with a pair of superbly modeled elephant-heads suspending mock ring-handles, covered overall with an intense and lustrous deep-blue glaze thinning to white on the edges, subtly accentuating the elephant ears and rings as well as the overall form of the vase, and pooling neatly in the lower corners and the lower edges of the ring handles. The base with a six-character seal-script mark da Qing Daoguang nianzhi neatly painted in underglaze-blue and of the period.

Provenance: Estate of Sear Hang Hwie Pao (1937-2009). Pao was one of Canada's leading dealers of Chinese porcelain and works of art. His antique store, Pao & Moltke Ltd., owned together with his wife Mrs. von Moltke, who descended from a German and Danish noble family, was a fixture in Toronto's trendy Yorkville area from the 1980s to early 2000s.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities.

Weight: 3,985 g
Dimensions: Height 30 cm

Expert's note: The blue-glazed cong-form vase with elephant handles is an invention of the Daoguang period and served as the model for all later examples, such as the more common vessels from the Guangxu period, which are different from the present lot in a number of ways. The thinning of the glaze to the edges is more controlled and dramatic in the Daoguang examples, creating a striking contrast and thus accentuating the vessel's unique form. The elephant heads and mock-ring handles are carved expressively and with high precision. Finally, the glaze is of a distinctively intense color, pools and flows in an exquisite manner, and also seems to be more resistant to outside exposure.

Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related monochrome blue cong vase with elephant handles, also with a Daoguang seal-script mark and of the period, at Sotheby's Paris in Arts d'Asie on 9 June 2011, lot 195, sold for EUR 42,750, and another at Christie's London in Important Chinese Art on 3 November 2020, lot 46, sold for GBP 36,250.

道光款與年代霽藍釉象耳琮式瓶
中國, 1821-1850年。圓口短頸方身，仿玉耳琮制式，一對造型精美的象耳琮制飾，圈足。胎厚體重，造型周正挺拔。整瓶整體覆以濃艷有光澤的深藍色釉，邊緣變薄為白色，巧妙地突出了 象耳和環以及花瓶的整體形式，並在環手柄的下角和下邊緣整齊地匯集。 底座有六字篆書“大清道光年製”，青釉彩繪工整。

來源：Sear Hang Hwie Pao (1937-2009) 遺產。Pao是加拿大中國瓷器和藝術品的主要經銷商之一。 他和妻子創立了Pao＆Moltke Ltd古玩店，他們的古玩店從1980年代到2000年代初期曾是多倫多時尚的Yorkville地區的熱門店鋪。
品相：狀況良好，有輕微磨損和點火不規則。

重量：3,985 克
尺寸：高30 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件相近的單色藍釉琮式象耳瓶，道光款和年代，于巴黎蘇富比Arts d'Asie 2011年6月9日，lot 195, 售價EUR 42,750, 還有一件于倫敦佳士得 Important Chinese Art 2020年11月3 日 lot 46, 售價GBP 36,250.