Lot 2665. A robins-egg glazed censer, impressed seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 19 cm., 7 1/2 in. Estimate 500,000 — 600,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,940,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's 2010.

the compressed globular body rising from a short flared foot to a broad everted mouth rim, set to the side with a pair of simple loop handles and covered overall with a turquoise and rich raspberry-red streaked glaze, the base with an impressed six-character seal mark.

Note: Vessels covered in this flamboyant and imaginative 'Robin's egg' glaze first appeared during the Yongzheng period and continued being made into the 19th century. Amongst the early vessels, only the finest examples bear a Yongzheng reign mark and the present censer is a particularly select piece within this small group of wares for its well fired rich glaze and elegant curved form. According to Regina Krahl, 'Robin's egg' glaze is seen as a free interpretation of Song dynasty 'Jun' glazes, being called lu Jun (furnace Jun) in Chinese, because it was fired in a furnace of a lower temperature after the firing of the porcelain. (See Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. Two, London, 1994, p. 252)

For a censer of this glaze, form and size see one from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 502; and a smaller related example sold in these rooms, 25th November 1978, lot 155. Another Yongzheng 'Robin's egg' censer of this type 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. 108; and a fourth example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st November 2004, lot 876, with the glaze referred to as 'peacock-feather', a  type of 'Robin's egg' glaze.