A GUAN-TYPE CONG-FORM ARCHAISTIC VASE, 18TH CENTURYChina. Of archaic jade form, the straight-sided square section body rising from a short foot to a narrow tapering circular neck, finely molded in shallow relief with two vertical bars down each side, and alternating shorter and longer horizontal bars down the four corners. Covered overall in a thick pale-gray glaze suffused with a network of golden and black crackles, masterfully controlled so that they emphasize the archaic form of the vessel.Provenance: From the collection of Felix Tikotin, and thence by descent within the family. Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector, and founder of the first Museum of Japanese Art in the Middle East. Born in Glogau, Germany, to a Jewish family, his ancestors had returned with Napoleon from Russia from a town named Tykocin. He grew up in Dresden and after World War I, he traveled to Japan and immediately fell in love with the culture. In April 1927, he opened his own first gallery in Berlin. The entire family survived the holocaust, and in the 1950s Tikotin slowly resumed his activities as a dealer in Japanese art. He became, once again, very successful and prominent, holding exhibitions all over Europe and the United States. When he first visited Israel in 1956, he decided that the major part of his collection belonged in that country. In 1960, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art was opened in Haifa.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, intentional crackling, one tiny nick to the mouth. The foot slightly smoothened, probably inherent to manufacture.Weight: 255.8 gDimensions: Height 11.8 cmExpert’s note: One feature that sets the present Guan-type cong-form vase apart from later examples is the masterly control of the two-tone crackle, with the dark lines accentuating the form of the vase and the smaller, golden network highlighting the molded decoration. This level of precision on such an inspired yet simple design is not found on any Chinese porcelain later than the 18th century.Literatureparison:Compare the guan-type vase of this shape and decoration illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain (Beijing): Theplete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, page 221, pl. 199.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2014, lot 161Price: USD 15,000 or approx.EUR 18,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A ‘Guan’-type cong vase, Qing dynasty, 18th centuryExpert remark:pare the closely related form and thick glaze with similar two-tone crackle. Note the near-identical size (13.6 cm).十八世紀仿官釉琮形瓶中國。玉琮形瓶，圓口、方腹、圈足，四面凸起橫直條紋。通體覆蓋著一層厚厚的淺灰色釉，上面佈滿了金絲鐵線紋，更加突出了古玉琮的風格。