Canalblog
Editer l'article Suivre ce blog Administration + Créer mon blog
Publicité
Alain.R.Truong
Alain.R.Truong
Publicité
Visiteurs
Depuis la création 50 862 150
Archives
Newsletter
Alain.R.Truong
13 septembre 2020

A fine peachbloom-glazed amphora vase, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)

77859a7a0fb65a113d8eb65c77e7ef69

1eeea6e56caa690ade9722100c8f6c0c

 

IMG_20200913_212836

447b7a82ac6beb8fbcb6791463f4c188

Lot 103. A fine peachbloom-glazed amphora vase, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722); Height 6⅛ in., 15.4 cm. Estimate: 200,000 - 300,000 USD. (C) 2020 Sotheby's

 

the slender tapered body with rounded shoulders rising to a tall flared neck, covered overall in a vivid mottled strawberry-red glaze, the neck and base each with a swath of beige speckled with 'unripe peach' green, the glaze stopping above the foot to reveal the white body, the interior applied with a similar pinkish glaze shading to a mushroom tone, the lip and deeply recessed base glazed white, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue in two columns.

 

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20th May 1981, lot 785.

 

Exhibited: Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 125.
Zhongguo mingtao riben xunhui zhan. Gangtai mingjia shoucang taoci jingpin [Exhibition of Famous Chinese Ceramics Touring Japan. Fine Ceramics from Private Hong Kong and Taiwanese Collections], Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1992, p. 165.

 

Note: This attractive bottle with its tall tapering body, delicate foot and gently flared neck is an iconic product of the imperial kilns under the direction of the early Qing court. Its delicate form exudes a sense of understated elegance while its luscious glaze, with dark-red flecks combined with various hues of green, evokes a design formed in nature. Ralph M. Chait succinctly describes bottles of this type as defying description, ‘as the pen cannot convey any idea of its subtle rhythm of line, mass and balance’ (Ralph M. Chait, 'The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes bearing K’ang Hsi Marks', Oriental Art, vol. III, no. 4, Winter 1957, p. 139).

With its wide range of tones and variegated effects, the peachbloom glaze ranks among the most important innovations developed by the imperial kiln factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Peachbloom is special among Qing dynasty glazes as it deliberately exploits the different decorative effects that the elusive copper pigment produced during firing. Copper pigment had been largely abandoned after the Xuande reign (r. 1426-35) because it was notoriously difficult to fire and often produced uneven and unsatisfactory results. To control the pigment’s tendency to run, copper-lime was sprayed onto the surface of the vessel through a bamboo tube that had a piece of gauze at one end, sandwiched’ between two layers of clear glaze. This technique allowed for a wide range of natural effects, as seen in the dark-red flecks and large watery-green patch above the foot of this piece. While technically innovative, the serendipitous nature of this glaze is reminiscent of Song dynasty (960-1279) wares, which were admired for their subtle variations.

After a period of standstill that lasted nearly sixty years from the end of the Wanli period (1573-1620), the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen were revived and placed under the direct control of the court. The appointment of Zang Yingxuan as supervisor of the imperial kilns and his arrival at Jingdezhen on the 20th year of Kangxi’s reign, corresponding to 1681, initiated a new era of high-quality production. Imperial peachbloom wares were produced only in the Kangxi period and leading scholars including Peter Lam and Wang Qingzheng suggest they can be attributed to the period Zang was supervisor of the kilns, on the grounds of textual and stylistic evidence (Wang Qingzheng, ‘Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares of the Kangxi Era, Qing Dynasty’, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pp XIX and XX; Peter Lam, ‘Qing Monochromes and Tang Ying’, A Millenium of Monochromes: From the Great Tang to the High Qing, The Baur and the Zhuyuetang Collection, The Baur Foundation, Geneva, 2018, p. 146). However, a copper-red ‘souffle’ glaze is mentioned in the 1712 letter written by the Jesuit missionary Père d’Entrecolles (1664-1741), suggesting that peachbloom wares may still have been produced at that time (Lu Minghua, ‘Qing Imperial Monochromes of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns’, Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zande Lou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp 28 and 29).

The peachbloom glaze is found on a small number of vessels, which were first discussed by Ralph Chait in his influential essay op. cit., pp 130-137. Chait refers to this vase as Guanyin ping (Guanyin bottle), as the bodhisattva Guanyin is often depicted holding such a vase. Vases of this form are also known as liuye ping (willow-leaf bottles), in reference to one of Guanyin’s attributes, a branch of willow, or alluding to the resemblance of its form to a slender willow leaf. The form of this vase is particularly elegant and would have required a stand to be securely displayed as its narrow foot, recessed base and elongated form made it unstable. The potter cleverly designed the piece with a high foot which has been left unglazed to accommodate the stand.

Peachbloom vases of this form include a bottle in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 23, Shunzhi (1644-1661) and Kangxi (1662-1722) Periods of Qing Dynasty (II), Beijing, 2013, pl. 37; a vase in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, p. 56 (top right), together with one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, p. 73 (right); and a further bottle in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the Museum’s exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 29,

 

Sotheby's. Kangxi Porcelain - A Private Collection. Live Auction: 22 September 2020 • 3:00 PM CEST • New York.

Publicité
Publicité
Commentaires
Publicité