Page 156 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

Fig. 1 A Ge-type bronze-imitation vase, seal mark and period of Fig. 2 A Ge-type bronze-imitation vase, seal mark and period of
Yongzheng © The Palace Museum, Beijing Yongzheng © The Palace Museum, Beijing
圖一 清 雍正 仿哥釉古铜纹方尊 《大清雍正年製》款 © 故宮博物院， 圖二 清雍正 仿哥釉古铜纹方尊 《大清雍正年製》款 © 故宮博物院，
北京 北京

mposing in its austere form and design, this of the classic Song glaze of ‘Ge’ ware, with its opaque beige Peter Lam has translated one of those listings this as: and His Times, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011,
exceptionally rare vessel crystallizes the Yongzheng coloration and distinct, black-stained crackles. Ge ware ‘Ge glazes with iron body, including millet color and pale cat. no. II-60. The Palace Museum Collection also holds
IEmperor’s ambition in porcelain experimentation and is one of the most celebrated wares of Chinese ceramics. green, copied from ancient pieces sent from the Imperial another related vessel displaying the same combination of
fascination with antiquity. The vase is particularly rare for According to Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Palace.’ (Peter Y. K. Lam, ‘Three Chinese Bannermen and techniques, although larger in size (47.5 cm), and of more
its combination of a molded border of horizontal friezes Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 213, ‘originally, their Monochromes’ in Shimmering Colours – Monochromes classical Hu-form proportions, illustrated in Selection of Ge
beneath a brown wash with a smooth crackled glaze in the term Ge, often mentioned in classical Chinese literature, of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Ware. The Palace Museum Collection and Archaeological
faithful imitation of the classic ‘Ge’ wares of the Song may have been applied to a distinct ware from a specific but Kong, 2005, p. 44). This extract reveals that the court was Discoveries, Beijing, 2017, pl. 137 (fig. 2).
dynasty. unidentified kiln; later, however, it appears to have turned prepared to send prized antiques from the imperial collection
The profile of the present vessel is unusual, being
into a connoisseur’s term for wares with certain features’. on the long and arduous journey from Beijing to Jingdezhen to
The form is loosely based on a relatively rare type of Hu particularly broad with a high, swelling belly. Whilst no other
ensure that items, such as the current vessel, were accurate
ritual bronze vessels of the Western Zhou period, such From the first years of his reign, the Yongzheng Emperor vessel combining this rare form and technique appears
as one example excavated in Shanxi province in 1978, commissioned works from the Palace Workshops inspired reflections of their revered Song dynasty antecedents. to be published, compare a Yongzheng mark and period
illustrated Shanxi Cultural Relics Committee, Shanxi Chutu by treasured antiques held in the imperial collection. In its form and technique, the present vessel is most fanghu of the same size, molded with an archaistic kuilong
Wenwu [Cultural Relics Excavated in Shanxi], Beijing, 1980, These antiques were used as standards for quality, models similar to the famous lei-form vase in the collection of the band but applied overall under a Guan-type glaze sold at
pl. 65. The horizontal band of confronted kuilong enclosed for archaistic designs and as inspirations for innovation. Palace Museum, Beijing (fig. 1), of similar proportions Christie’s Paris, 15th June 2005, lot 254. Similar proportions
by leiwen-inspired borders and above pendant blades are In 1735, Tang Yin, the celebrated superintendent of the to the present vessel, published in Kangxi. Yongzheng. are also found on a much smaller (11.5cm high) Guan-type
all inspired by the cast decorations adorning ritual bronzes imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, composed the Taocheng jishi Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, fanghu attributed to the Ming dynasty with a later-inscribed
of the same period; and the application of the bronze wash bei ji [Commemorative stele on ceramic production], which Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 88. The vase was also among several Qianlong poem corresponding to 1775, formerly in the
mimics the rich metal patina of these vessels. The glaze, provides a wealth of information on ceramic production at works loaned by the Palace Museum, Beijing to the joint collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, sold at Christie’s New York,
meanwhile, is a successful attempt to recapture the spirit the Imperial kilns and lists some fifty-seven of their products. exhibition Harmony and Integrity. The Yongzheng Emperor 15th September 2009, lot 355.
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