Note: The Yongzheng Emperor, who initiated many revivals of earlier ceramic techniques, was particularly enamored with the variegated Jun glazes of the Song and Ming dynasties. In order to have the glazes recreated or imitated he went as far as sending potters from the Imperial kilns on study trips to the Jun region in Henan province. Among the many types of glazes derived from those efforts are mottled purple ones such as the flambé, and mottled turquoise ones such as the ‘robin’s egg’ varieties. The Taocheng jishi bei (Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production), written by Tang Ying in 1735, lists the 'robin's egg' glaze first in a list of the nineteen most popular types of wares produced by the Imperial factory.

The present strongly mottled turquoise glaze represents a rare variation of the much more common ‘robin’s egg’ glaze. Characterized by more intense turquoise/brown contrasts, the present vase is reminiscent of a sub-category referred to as 'peacock feather’. It seems to represent an early Yongzheng version, before the more evenly dappled ‘robin’s egg’ glaze came into use.

Examples with this variation of the 'robin's egg' glaze are rare, however, compare a number of vases bearing incised four-character Yongzheng marks; a small flower receptacle in the Qing Court Collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 187; a mallet-form vase in the National Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China. Qing Porcelain, Beijing, 2006, pl. 67; and a garlic-neck vase in the Zande Lou Collection is illustrated in Qing Imperial Monochromes The Zande Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 20.

The majority of meiping applied with 'robin's egg' glazes are unmarked and are generally attributed to the reign of the Qianlong Emperor or the 18th century, making this vase a particularly rare example. Compare a larger (34cm) Qianlong mark and period meiping sold in our London rooms, 10th December 1991, lot 293, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 1st May 2001, lot 520.