Lot 2192. A pair of unusual copper-red-glazed bowls, Qianlong seal marks in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 6½ in. (16.5 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price Realized USD 35,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

Each bowl is potted with deep, rounded, flaring sides, and is covered on the exterior with a glaze of crushed-strawberry-red color that thins in areas to pale greenish-white below the rim. The interior is white.

Note: Two other pairs of bowls of the same shape, with the same rare type of glaze, but with Kangxi marks rather than the Qianlong marks found on the present examples, include a pair illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art; Chinese Ceramics IV; Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 13; and a second pair from the J.M. Hu Collection sold at Christie's New York, 14 September 2013, lot 1544.

The glaze on the present and two other pairs of bowls appears to be a refined version of the gradations of color seen on copper-red-glazed vessels of Kangxi date, that are often described as langyao, where the thicker, crackled red glaze thins to a pale celadon color, primarily at the rim, but also in other areas. This type of glaze is evident on several vessels, including three vases of various shape, three bowls, and a zhadou-shaped jar, illustrated in The Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935-36, nos. 2298, 2299, 2301, 2303, 2305, 2307 and 2309; and on three vessels illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Qing Monochrome Glaze Porcelain, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, nos. 4, 5 and 6, a vase, a brush pot and a censer, respectively.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014