Lot 271. A Fine and Rare Clair-de-Lune Glazed Jardinière, Yongzheng Seal Mark and Period (1723-1735); 13.9cm., 5 1/2 in. Estimate 60,000 - 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 73,250 GBP. Photo Sotheby's
the deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted rim, covered overall with an even sky-blue glaze, the base with a four-character Yongzheng seal mark around the central aperture.
Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., Tokyo, circa 1940.
A New York Private Collection.
Marchant, London, 4th May 2008.
Note: The present jardinière is exquisite for its elegant small form and beautiful clair-de-lune glaze. Jardinières of this shape bearing a four-character Yongzheng reign mark are extremely rare although a vessel of similar form and size, covered in a Jun-type glaze and bearing an incised four-character Yongzheng mark on the base, was included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Monochrome Ceramics of Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 27. Another slightly larger Yongzheng jardinière of this type but in lazurite blue-glaze and bearing a six-character reign mark on the base, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 197. Compare also a pair of slightly larger turquoise-glazed jardinières of deep flared form with lipped everted rims, attributed to Yongzheng’s reign, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 16thMay 1977, lot 148.
Yongzheng period jardinières can be found in various shapes and glazes, for example, see a large lavender-glazed hexagonal jardinière with an integral stand glazed in a sharply contrasting colour, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 70; a shallow circular shaped sky-blue glazed example raised on a dark aubergine glazed stand, published in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 97; and a robin’s-egg glazed rectangular jardinière with a four-character Yongzheng reign mark on the base sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2816.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, London, 07 november 2012
