The 13in (32cm) vase, with an unusual turned-down ruyi mouth and a typical array of enamelled auspicious emblems and flowers to the imperial yellow ground, carries a calligraphic Qianlong (1735-95) four-character mark to the base.
The latter is thought by consultant Douglas Wright – who has given the vase a clean bill of health – to denote the early years of the reign of the fifth Qing emperor Jiaqing (1795-1820).
It is very similar in form and decoration to a vase with a red six-character Jiaqing mark sold by Christie’s Hong Kong as part of the Fonthill Collection in December 2010.
A detail of the Qing bottle vase at Mulberry Bank.
The base bears labels for the Dartington Hall Chinese Exhibition, 1965 and the collection of Sir John Saunders (1917-2002) who was chairman of HSBC from 1962-72. According to family history, the vase was acquired in 1982 from Ohio dealer Charles Gerhardt (1932-2015).
A successful sale would make the vase the first seven-figure lot sold in the UK regions for five years and the first ever sold in Scotland.
