Page 96 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17
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MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART
743 A VERY RARE SMALL CLAIR-DE-LUNE-
GLAZED SAUCER DISH
Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being
YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a porcelain bowl
WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735) with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from
the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns, and is illustrated
The dish has rounded sides rising from a low foot ring to a in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated
gently faring rim, and the interior and exterior are covered from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen,
with a translucent pale lavender-blue glaze stopping neatly Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-7, no. 97. The
around the foot. imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular
5º in. (13.2 cm.) diam. at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and
Qianlong Emperors.
$80,000-100,000
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular
PROVENANCE admiration of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from
his reign were made with fne Ru-style glazes. It is possible
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 17 November 1975, lot 130 that the copy of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes made for the
(one of a pair) Yongzheng emperor was devised by the greatest of all the
Eskenazi, London, 1975. supervisors of the imperial kilns, Tang Ying, who frst came
to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was
A pair of very similar dishes, also bearing Yongzheng especially known for his highly successful imitation of early
marks within double squares, is illustrated by P. Y, K. Lam, wares. Indeed, the Jingdezhen tao lu notes that, “His close
Shimmering Colours: Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, copies of famous wares of the past were without exception
The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 140, worthy partners (of the originals); and his copies of every
no. 72, and another pair, described as having a ‘pale cobalt- kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly
blue glaze’, in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese matched ...” (translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics -
Art is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986,
Monochrome, London, 1973, Section 6, nos. B560 and 561. p. 20).
Another dish in the Nanjing Museum is illustrated in Qing
Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong 清雍正 天藍釉盤 雙方框六字楷書款
Reigns, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 40.
The beautiful, clear bluish glaze of the present dish
is inspired by the almost legendary Ru glaze of the
Song dynasty. Traditionally much admired by Chinese
connoisseurs, the Ru glaze was copied on porcelain as early
as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at
(reverse)
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