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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