Page 20 - Taber Family Tianquiping Vase Christies Hong Kong May 2018

fig. 1 A blue and white tianqiuping, Xuande mark and period (1426-1435)
Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖一 明宣德 青花花卉紋天球瓶
北京故宮博物院藏品

vessels. A number of tianqiuping were made in the Yongzheng reign 言，可證諸北京故宮博物院藏十五世紀青花天球瓶，
(1723-35) – primarily with underglaze blue or overglaze famille rose 圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集 34：青花釉裏紅
decoration. An example of the latter, decorated with blossoming
chrysanthemums, and somewhat smaller than the current vase, is （上）》頁 90-95 編號 87-89（香港：2000）（圖一）。
in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (illustrated in 時至十八世紀，天球瓶這一形制始於宮廷御瓷中大放
Oriental Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections, vol. 1, Tokyo,
1976, col. pl. 80. (fig. 2)). Two Yongzheng tianqiuping of similar 異彩，因為它們雖造價不菲，但皇上卻不計工本、刻意
size to the current vase, but decorated in underglaze blue, from the 求精。雍正年間（1723 至 1735 年）曾燒造數例天球瓶，
Qing court collection of Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated in
Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), The Complete 其中以飾青花或釉上粉彩者居多。東京國立博物館便
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 36, Hong Kong, 珍藏一例比本拍品略小的釉上粉彩菊花紋天球瓶，
2000, pp. 96-7, nos. 82 and 83. 圖見《東洋陶瓷大觀 1：東京國立博物館》頁 227 編

It is very rare to find a vase of this massive size with doucai decoration. 號 326（東京：1976）（圖二）。北京故宮清宮舊藏中，
This was a difficult and expensive decorative technique. First, the
fine underglaze cobalt blue outlines were painted onto the porous 有二例大小與本拍品相仿但以釉下青花為飾的雍正天
unfired body. As the cobalt immediately soaked into the unfired 球瓶，圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集 36：青花釉
clay, no mistakes could be rectified. The vessel was then glazed 裏紅（下）》頁 96-7 編號 82 及 83（香港：2000）。
and fired. After the glazed piece had cooled, the overglaze enamels
were carefully applied inside the underglaze blue outlines and
the piece was fired again at a lower temperature. As each firing 就本拍品而言，形制如此敦碩並飾鬥彩紋飾者，少如
would have resulted in some failures, and large vessels tended to 鳳毛麟角。鬥彩工藝難度大，且成本高昂。畫師先要
be more susceptible to warping and splitting, it would have been
an expensive undertaking to create large doucai vessels which met 在滲水透氣的素胎上，用青花細線勾勒輪廓。由於鈷
imperial high standards. It is telling that even the Palace Museum 料會即時滲入未窯燒的瓷土，若出錯的話便毫無塗改
in Beijing appears to have published only one Qianlong doucai vase 空間。接下來，器物掛釉窯燒，已施釉的素胎冷卻
(decorated with tribute bearers) which is as tall as the current vase
(illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The 後，畫師即小心翼翼地在釉下青花線內填施釉上琺瑯

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