Page 214 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC
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                PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTOR  British Museum, London (acc. no. 1994,0126.1). Another
                A PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED BRUSH WASHER          related example with an illegible mark and a few strokes
                MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI                 inside the foot is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum,
                                                          published in Wang Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from
                of delicately potted compressed circular form, supported on   the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 208.
                a shallow tapering foot, the rounded sides curving inward at   A washer of this type, inscribed with character wen by the
                the rim and covered on the exterior with a brilliant crimson   interior of the foot, was included in the exhibition Chinese
                glaze attractively mottled with lighter pink and green tones,   Porcelain from the 15th to the 18th Century, Eskenazi,
                the interior, lip and recessed base white, the interior side of   London, 2006, cat. no. 8; another from the collection
                the foot with two short brushstrokes in underglaze blue, the   of Edward T. Chow, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25th
                base centered with a three-column six-character mark in   November 1980, lot 68, again in our London rooms, 17th
                underglaze blue                           November 1999, lot 784, and most recently in our Hong
                Diameter 4½ in., 10.1 cm                  Kong rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1657; a third was sold at
                                                          Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 1864; a fourth
                PROVENANCE                                recently sold in these rooms, 22nd September 2020, lot 113.
                S. H. Hoo, New York, 1960s.
                                                          Tangluo xi with only the six-character Kangxi mark are more
                The famous ‘peachbloom’ glaze was an innovation of the   commonly known. See a washer in the Palace Museum,
                Kangxi period and technically challenging to produce.   Beijing, illustrated Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing
                Potters would coat the vessel with a layer of clear glaze,   Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong,
                followed by a layer of copper-oxide-rich pigment, possibly   1989, pl. 123; one in the Baur Collection illustrated in John
                blown onto the underlying glaze using a straw, and then   Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. 3, Geneva, 1972, pl. A 309. A
                apply a further layer of clear glaze on top. After being fired in   further example, from the Sir Percival David Collection and
                a reducing atmosphere and perhaps finished in an oxidizing   now in the British Museum, London (acc. no. PDF,B.582),
                atmosphere, the pigment developed a soft mottled red tone   is published in Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of
                with flushes of moss green. From the outset, ‘peachbloom’   Ming and Ch’ing Monochrome in the in the Percival David
                wares have been esteemed by connoisseurs and collectors,   Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, p. 56, no. B582.
                due to their aesthetic qualities and the fact that this glaze
                was applied only to a limited range of vessel types designed   $ 50,000-70,000
                for scholarly use.
                The overall form of this washer is known as tangluo xi, one   清康熙   豇豆紅釉鏜鑼洗
                of the most iconic forms among ‘peachbloom’ wares. The
                present washer is, however, distinguished by the additional   《大清康熙年製》款
                underglaze-blue strokes at the interior of the foot, which
                elevate it to a more rarified category of ‘peachbloom’   來源:
                washers bearing this feature. Compare a related example   S.H. Hoo,紐約,1960年代
                with a single stroke inside the foot in the collection of the





























                210     SOTHEBY’S        COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748                                                                                                                                           211
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