Lot 529. An exceptional and rare pair of underglaze-blue and copper-red vases, Attributed to Tang Ying, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Height 16 in., 40.5 cm. Estimate $200,000 — 300,000. Sold for $399,000. Courtesy Sotheby’s.

each well potted with the slightly tapered cylindrical body rising from a recessed base to an angular shoulder, sweeping up to a waisted neck and mouth collared with a raised band, the exterior finely painted with a crane standing on top of rockwork below a flowering peony tree, accompanied by three seals Taochengtang, Wu Yue, and dianheng, one inscribed in cursive script with the Qingyan tie by Wang Xizhi, followed by an inscription reading Yue lin Youjun shufa yiduan Maoyuan Wu Yue (Yue copying a section of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, Wu Yue of Maoyuan), the other inscribed with the Danxi tie (2).

Provenance: European Private Collection.

Note: This elegant pair of vases belongs to an exclusive group of vessels bearing the Taocheng Tang (Hall of Accomplished Learning) seal, which is widely considered to be a seal of Tang Ying (1682-1756), China’s most famous Superintendent of the imperial kilns. Under Tang Ying’s supervision, the late Yongzheng (r. 1723-35) and early Qianlong (r. 1736-95) periods boasted the finest of porcelain production, when the expectations of a piece of porcelain were set to the highest level. Credited with some of the greatest porcelain technical developments and innovative designs in China’s history, Tang Ying’s genius was usually reserved for the imperial courts and pieces marked with his seal are relatively rare. Porcelains bearing this seal are characterized by a fineness of potting and painting, similar to that made for the imperial court, but lacking reign marks. These vessels may have been produced for the personal enjoyment of Tang Ying himself, or as a gift to friends. Unrestrained by the requirements of the emperor and his court, Tang Ying unleashed his personal aesthetic on such wares, which reveal the literati sensibility of a deep reverence for famous paintings and calligraphy of China’s celebrated history.

Perhaps most striking about these vases is the craftsman’s treatment of the surface as a scroll. Vases of this select group are characterised by their simple shouldered form and design of a pictorial scene on one side and inscription on the other.  The form provides an understated elegant surface for the charming scene of a crane under a blossoming peony tree. This auspicious motif is rendered in a naturalistic manner similar to that found in court paintings, with varying shades of cobalt blue capturing the various different textures of the rocks, plants and feathers. Furthermore, the notoriously temperamental copper red has been brought under the masterful control of Tang Ying, which has been expertly applied and fired to retain the depth and brilliance of color. 

The masterfully executed excerpts are lifted from Wang Xizhi’s (303-361 AD) Shiqi tie, a collection of letters written to his friend, Zhou Fu, who served as a Prefect in Yizhou, yearning for a glimpse of the breath-taking sceneries of the Shu state. The Shiqi tie is named after its first two characters, which denotes the date, and each letter is named after its first few characters. Its high esteem saw the entire text reproduced into stone steles and the ink rubbings were widely distributed. Wang’s calligraphy throughout the letters has been acclaimed as the supreme model of cursive script. The end note and two seals that follow the inscription on these vases indicate that an official, Wu Yue, was responsible for the calligraphy on these vases. 

The Danshi tie inscribed on one vase can be translated as follows:

Recently, the capital (Nanjing) has been fairly calm and peaceful, this time when you return from your duty, you should have the qualities to be promoted to the military general of the state. Heng Gong (the military official who spent nearly three decades defending the Shu State) was delighted to hear about you after reading my letter and wish to see you successfully complete further duties. Xie Wu Yi and I have been communicating through letters and he is doing fine. After his brother (Xie Ren Zu) passed away, I recently visited his home and it is difficult to express my sadness from my heart.  

The Qingyan tie on the second vase can be translated as follows:

Knowing that the Shu State is a rather peaceful region, and have great harvests for many years in succession producing crops that no other places can grow, along with its name well-known since the ancient times and its magnificent landscape, how can I not pay a visit?

Two vases also belonging to this group, both decorated with a deer under a large pine tree, the reverse of one similarly inscribed with an extract from the Shiqi tie and other from Sun Guoting’s Shupu, both with the same seals as the present vases, were sold at Christie’s new York, 19th/20th September 2013, lot 1313; and another depicting two magpies perched on a blossoming plum tree, the reverse inscribed in cursive script with a poem, together with the Taocheng Tang seal and a seal reading Wu Pei zhi (made by Wu Pei), was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3186. See also a smaller vase of similar form, decorated in underglaze blue and red with five deer standing under a tall pine tree, but lacking an inscription and seals, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23th May 1971, lot 1261.

A pair of unusual copper red-decorated blue and white vases, 18th century; 15¾ and 15 7/8 in. (40 and 40.3 cm.) high (2). Sold for 1,143,750 $ at Christie’s new York, 19th/20th September 2013, lot 1313. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

Each high-shouldered, tapering body is decorated in copper red and underglaze blue on one side with a scene of a deer and a crane standing beside a pine tree, a blue rock and lingzhi, and on the reverse with a different lengthy poetic inscription in cursive script preceded by an oval seal, Tao Cheng Tang, and followed by two seals reading, Dianheng. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000.

Note: The text written on one vase is an excerpt from Treaties on Calligraphy(Shu Pu) by the Tang dynasty poet and calligrapher Sun Guoting. The text inscribed on the other vase is an excerpt from Seventeen Posts (Shi Qi Tie) by the Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi. Each excerpt is preceded by an oval seal reading Tao Chen tang, a hallmark used by the famous Superintendent of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying (1682-1756), and followed by, Maoyuan Wu Yue xi shu (playfully written by Wu Yue of Mao Yuan). A Qing dynasty official named Wu Yue is recorded as having been stationed in Yixing, Jiangsu province from 1755-56.

A vase of similar shape decorated in underglaze blue and red on one side with a branch of peony and a poetic inscription on the reverse, in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 215, no. 196, where it is dated to the Yongzheng period. The text on the Palace vase is flanked by underglaze-red seals reading, Wu Fu (Hall of Wu), and Tao Cheng zhi bao (treasure of Tao Cheng).

An underglaze-blue and copper-red inscribed ‘Magpie and Plum blossom’ vase, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 40 cm., 15 3/4  in. Sold for 1,840,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong , 8th October 2013, lot 3186. Courtesy Sotheby's.

sturdily potted with a slightly tapered cylindrical body rising from a concave base to an angular shoulder, sweeping up to a straight neck and mouth collared with a raised band, one side of the exterior painted in bright washes of cobalt blue and copper red with a pair of magpies perched on a blossoming plum tree, flanked by a leafy bamboo and a lofty pine tree, the reverse inscribed in cursive script with a poem, between two red seals reading Taocheng Tang (‘Hall of Accomplished Porcelain’) and Wu Pei zhi (‘made by Wu Pei’).

Note: The present piece is notable for the craftsman’s command of the cobalt blue and copper red pigments through which he depicts a most naturalistic scene of the popular bird and flowers motif. Careful washes of underglaze blue give the birds, branches and rockwork a sense of three dimensionality while the precise intricate detail in which the feathers and flowers are rendered are similar to what would be found on the court paintings that served as the inspiration for the present piece.

A vase painted with the 'Three Friends of Winter' in a similar style to the present, on a meiping and with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Qing dynasty imperial kilns in the Palace Museum collection], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 58; and a blue and white vase of baluster form depicting birds in branches was sold at Christie’s London, 23rd October 1973, lot 188. 

Further vessels bearing the Taocheng Tang seal include a vase of related form but with rounded shoulder, decorated with a peony branch and inscription in clerical script on the reverse, as well as a seal reading Wu Fu (Hall of Wu), in the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III) Shanghai, 2000, pl. 196 (fig. 1); and a brushpot inscribed with Sun Guoting’s Shupu as well as a seal reading Dianhu dugong, with a Qianlong reign mark and of the period, in the National Museum of China, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan Guancang Wenwu Yanjiu Congshu [Studies on the collections of the National Museum of China], Ciqi juan [Porcelain section]: Qingdai [Qing dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 86 (fig. 2). A celadon-glazed garlic-mouth vase with a two-character Taocheng mark to the base was sold at Christie’s London, 12th November 2002, lot 64. 

fig. 1. An underglaze-blue and copper-red inscribed vase, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period, Palace Museum, Beijing © Palace Museum, Beijing.

fig. 2. An underglaze-blue and copper-red inscribed brushpot, Qianlong mark and period, National Museum of China, Beijing.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 21 March 2018