A RARE CELADON-GLAZED BARREL-SHAPED JARQianlong seal mark and of the period The ovoid jar applied with a pair of archaistic mythical beast-mask and ring handles set between rows of bosses around the shoulder and above the foot, covered with a soft pale blue-green glaze of even tone continuing over the flat rim and stopping at the unglazed ring encircling the countersunk base. 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high. 清乾隆 粉青釉鋪首罐 青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款 Provenance : Mrs Doris Herschorn (d.1975) and by descent to her son Hugh Sassoon Christie's London, 8 June 2021, lot 293 來源 ：Doris Herschorn夫人（逝於1975年）舊藏，並由其子Hugh Sassoon保存 倫敦佳士得，2021年6月8日，拍品編號293 The present vessel is an elegant example of the refined effect that could be created bybining a finely-textured pale green glaze with relief decoration on a monochrome porcelain vessel. This technique allows the details of the crisp decoration around the body to be highlighted by the delicate translucent glaze pooling in the small recesses, creating a pleasing dichromatic effect whilst accentuating the archaistic design as demonstrated in the taotie mask handles. Vessels shaped as drums, dating to the Qianlong period, are rare, and are a continuation of the Yongzheng period. See a celadon and gilt drum-shaped vase, Yongzheng mark and period, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 17 November 1975, lot 154, and a celadon-glazed example which sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 March 1992, lot 574. During the 18th century, the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen devoted considerable research and development to the production of celadon glazes applied to a white porcelain body. Although celadon-type glazes, coloured with small quantities of iron, were applied to porcelain bodies at the Imperial kilns in the early Ming period, the potters working during the Kangxi period perfected a particularly delicate version over a very white porcelain body. The elegant celadon glaze was obtained using only about half the amount of iron utilised in similar glazes produced during preceding periods. During the Yongzheng period, the newly-obtained celadon glaze was further refined to produce an even more finely textured and slightly bluer pale green glaze, and small adjustments continued to be implemented throughout the Qianlong reign. The delicate range of green glazes produced during the Qing dynasty was highly-regarded at the time, and individual glazes were given specific names, such as 'bean green' douqing , 'eastern green dongqing during the Kangxi reign, as well as 'winter green' dongqing and 'soft green' fenqing during the Yongzheng reign. pare with a pair of similar drum-shaped jars, Qianlong marks and of the period, illustrated in Chinese Celadons and Other Related Wares in Southeast Asia , Singapore, 1979 pl.224, nos.271 and 272. Another similar jar, Qianlong mark and period, from the T.Y. Chao collection, is illustrated in Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection , Hon