Page 142 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Fine Chinese Works of Art

A MAJESTIC QIANLONG DRAGON MEIPING

ROSEMARY SCOTT, INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR

This beautiful meiping, formerly in the T. T. Tsui Collection, to a white porcelain body. Although celadon-type glazes, coloured
combines a strong profile with a delicate pale celadon glaze and with small quantities of iron, had been applied to porcelain
a design of powerful imperial five-clawed dragons amongst bodies at the Jingdezhen imperial kilns in the early Ming period,
clouds and waves. The shape with its distinctively everted mouth, it was the Kangxi potters who perfected a particularly successful
wide shoulders, gracefully tapering sides with slightly flared foot version for application over a very white (low iron) porcelain
creates a bold but sinuous profile. The delicate translucent celadon body. The delicate celadon glaze was coloured using only about
glaze complements the shape and enhances the low relief surface half the amount of iron found, for instance, in typical Longquan
decoration, which has been carved to achieve a number of celadon glazes of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. The
different levels. The clarity of the glaze colour facilitates new celadon glaze for porcelain was further modified
a subtle dichromatic effect where the glaze pools in in the Yongzheng period to produce an even more
the deeper recesses of the design and is thinner on the finely textured and slightly bluer pale celadon glaze,
higher elements. This effect is particularly successful and small adjustments continued to be made in the
on the current meiping, and accentuates the undulating Qianlong reign until a range of these refined celadon
dragons, swirling clouds and turbulent waves. glazes were available for use on imperial porcelain
vessels, whether with or without decoration.
Such celadon glazes have their origins in fine high-fired
celadons of the Tang dynasty, but were ultimately the result The decoration on the current vessel depicts the most
of research and development by potters at the Qing potent symbol of imperial majesty - the five-
imperial kilns. In the 18th century the Jingdezhen fig. 1 Collection of the clawed dragon - in carved relief. The powerful
imperial kilns devoted considerable effort to the Palace Museum, Beijing five-clawed imperial dragon with horns was the
perfection of celadon glazes which could be applied 圖一 北京故宮博物院藏品 symbol of the emperor, and appears in many forms

清乾隆 粉青釉雕海水龍紋梅瓶

蘇玫瑰 (獨立學者)

本季呈獻的絕色梅瓶出自徐展堂先生舊藏，其線條挺拔端 在本梅瓶尤為可觀，五爪虯龍、朵朵祥雲和滾滾波濤在其烘
莊，通體施粉青釉，所飾海水祥雲五爪龍紋典雅堂皇，甚具 托下無不玲瓏立體。
皇家氣派。此瓶小口外撇，甚具特色，豐肩以下漸歛，線條優
此類粉青釉雖可上溯至唐代所用的高溫青釉，但歸根結柢仍
雅，足微撇，整體輪廓張弛有度、曼妙無比。器身的青釉清澈
屬清代御窯的研發成果。於十八世紀，景德鎮御窯不惜工本，
瑩潤，與整體造型和層次不一、深淺有致的淺雕紋飾搭配得
銳意研製可施於白色瓷胎的青釉。其實早在明初，景德鎮御
天衣無縫。由於釉料澄澈，所以紋飾凹陷處積釉色深，凸起
窯已有直接在瓷胎施仿青釉 (以少量的鐵為呈色劑) 的例子，
處則釉薄色淺，營造出細膩婉約的明晦反差。這一視覺效果
但要到康熙年間，陶工始調製出最適用於瑩白 (低鐵) 瓷胎的

136