Lot 108. A peachbloom-glazed washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 11.8 cm, 4 5/8  in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD (6,367 — 8,913 USD). Lot sold 525,000 HKD (66,848 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

with low rounded sides incurved at the mouth and supported on a low tapering foot, the exterior covered with an attractive mottled peachbloom glaze, the interior and base left white, the latter inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue, wood stand. 

Note: The peachbloom glaze was notoriously difficult to achieve. To manage the fugitive copper-lime pigment, it is believed to have been sprayed onto a layer of transparent glaze and then fixed with another layer, so as to be sandwiched between two layers of clear glaze. The technique marks one of the great ceramic innovations of the Kangxi period, but probably due to this demanding process, it remained in use for only a short time and was never revived again at a later stage.

A comparable peachbloom washer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 19; another is published in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 208.