Lot 149. Property from The Copeland Collection. A rare red-glazed 'Langyao' meiping, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662--1722). Height 32 cm. Lot Sold 171,450 EUR (Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 EUR). © Sotheby's 2025

Provenance: Collection of Leonard Daneham Cunliffe (1860-1937) (by repute).
Collection of Ronald Copeland (1884-1958), President of the Copeland Spode factory, at Trelissick house, Cornwall, and thence by family descent.

Note: The present meiping is an extraordinary example of imperial experimentation. While copper-based red glazes had first been developed at Jingdezhen under the Yuan dynasty in the fourteenth century, their use had largely been abandoned by the fifteenth due to the difficulty of controlling such a temperamental pigment, as evidenced by enormous volumes of discarded sherds unearthed at Yongle and Xuande strata at the imperial kiln sites. Only after two centuries, under the reign of the ambitious Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), did artisans finally dare to return to the coveted and extraordinary glaze effects that ‘copper-red’ could create. Also known as sang-de-boeuf (‘ox-blood’), langyao was redeveloped under the supervision of Lang Tingji (1663-1715), supervisor of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen from 1705-12, and the term is thought to derive from his name. Under his direction, the imperial potters attempted to recreate the lost formula of the early Ming period and perfected the creation of comparable deep and even copper-red glazes such as the present, which were also manipulated to produce the delicate mottled glazes of ‘peachbloom’ wares. These glazes, still somewhat difficult to control, at their best produce luscious cascading glaze effects rippling with vitality and glowing in a rich vermillion tone – the present vase being no exception.

While langyao vases from this period are not uncommon, it is rare to find an example thrown in such a voluptuous meiping form, with a steep sloping shoulder, outstretched lip, generous body and forgoing the spreading foot of more typical baluster forms. Compare a related meiping of similar form sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 17th April 1975, lot 67; and another, of smaller size but closely related proportions and brilliant glaze, from the collection of H.R.H. Norton, sold in our London rooms 26th March 1963, lot 76; and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th November 1985, lot 215.

Lot 147. A red-glazed dish, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820). Diameter 19.2 cm. Lot Sold 11,430 EUR (Estimate 3,000 - 5,000 EUR). © Sotheby's 2025

the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Lot 160. A white-glazed relief-carved 'peony' lobed vase, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820). Height 23.5 cm. Lot Sold 95,250 EUR (Estimate 50,000 - 80,000 EUR). © Sotheby's 2025

the base incised with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Collection of Alice Boney (1901-1988) (according to label).
Acquired in Paris, circa 1990.

Note: The lobed pomegranate form of the present vase has a long and illustrious history in the Chinese canon. While also used by connoisseurs to describe archaic bronze vessels from the Han dynasty, the term shiliuzun (‘pomegranate vase’) is most commonly associated with a rare and coveted early Ming vase form; its body divided into six lobes, rising from a tall splayed foot to a waisted cylindrical neck and elegantly sweeping upwards to an out-turned rim and rolled lip. These Yongle and Xuande period examples were likely inspired in turn by the ‘treasure vases’ (bum-pa) of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and their extraordinary form continued to obsess collectors, emperors and artisans alike in the ensuing centuries.

Compare an example of this type of Xuande mark and period from the Qing court collection, almost certainly known to the Jiaqing potters, now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 1, pl. 100; and a more common Qing variation on the design without moulding and covered in a flambé glaze, including a Qianlong example sold in our New York rooms, 20th September 2023, lot 530; and a Jiaqing example sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1532.

While similar 18th century vases decorated with clear glaze and moulded biscuit decoration are well attested, it is extremely rare to find such a pristine example of this historical form displaying such evident ‘Imperial Taste.’ Compare a closely related white shiliuzun of a more globular unlobed form with a moulded decoration of bats and flowers, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and included in the exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 64; a closely related unmarked lobed example, sold in our New York rooms, 17th September 2003, lot 104; and another Jiaqing example, almost identical but for variations to the floral moulding, offered from the collection of Eleanor Masters Hutchinson (1900-1985) at Christie’s New York, 16th September 2016, lot 1366.

Lot 196. Property from a Scandinavian Private Collection. A pair of celadon-glazed cong-form vases, Marks and period of Guangxu (1875-1908). Heights 28 cm. Lot Sold 19,050 EUR (Estimate 15,000 - 25,000 EUR). © Sotheby's 2025

the base of each with a six-character mark in underglaze blue, wood stands (2).

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1950's.

Sotheby's. Arts d'Asie, Paris 12 June 2025