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(base)
726
A PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED BRUSH
WASHER, TANGLUO XI
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND
OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)
The compressed globular body is covered on the exterior with a glaze of pigment was applied by blowing through a bamboo tube with fne silk
soft rose color sufused with pale green speckles and thins to a pale pink gauze over the end, to achieve an efect similar to modern spraying
tone on one side of the body. The interior and base are glazed white. techniques. This allowed the thickness of the copper-lime layer to be
adjusted so that some areas would be thicker than others. In those
4¬ in. (11.7 cm.) diam.
thicker areas there was additional fux, which thinned the upper glaze
layer and allowed the copper to re-oxidise and produce clear green.
$40,000-60,000
In the other areas, some of the pigment was undissolved in the glaze
making it appear slightly opaque and yet smooth on the surface, while
PROVENANCE the majority of the copper did dissolve and produced a rich pinkish-
Kate Sturges Buckingham (1858–1937) Collection, Chicago, red, and creating one of the most highly esteemed glazes from the
before 1926.
Qing imperial kilns.”
The Art Institute of Chicago, accessioned as the Collection of Lucy
Maud Buckingham (1870-1920) in 1926. This type of brush washer is described as being of ‘gong’ shape, or
tangluo xi (washer of gong form), as it has a very compressed body.
The present washer belongs to a group of vessels covered in
Other Kangxi peachbloom brush washers include one illustrated by
peachbloom glaze, often referred to as ba da ma or “The Eight Great
S. Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1904, pl. 7, fg. 1; by M.
Numbers”, made for the scholar’s desk during the Kangxi period.
Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Fribourg, 1986, pl. 98; by J.
Examples from this group include washers (such as the present
Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. III, Geneva, 1972,
example and lot 728), water pots (lot 727), seal paste boxes and vases
nos. A 306 and A 309; in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 34,
(lot 729). A set of eight peachbloom-glazed vessels of various shapes
no. 27; and another is listed in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and
in The Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A
Ch’ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art,
Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 237.
London, 1973, no. B 582 (not illustrated). A further Kangxi peachbloom
In her discussion of a Kangxi peachbloom-glazed ‘chrysanthemum’ brush washer was included in the 1978 Hong Kong Museum of Art
vase (jupan ping), sold at Christie’s New York, Collected in America: exhibition, Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y.
Chinese Ceramics from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 Chao Family Foundation, no. 53.
September 2016, lot 913, Rosemary Scott notes how this technically For two examples sold at auction, see the Kangxi peachbloom washer
complex glaze was produced: “Both the overall soft pinkish-red of from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold at Christie’s New York, 19
the glaze, and the areas of clear green which appear to a greater or March 2008, lot 636, and the brush washer sold at Christie’s New
lesser extent within it owe their hue to copper. Firing in a reducing York, Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan
atmosphere creates the red color, while re-oxidation creates the green. Museum of Art, Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 914, which
This was therefore a glaze which had to be applied very precisely and was formerly in the Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952) Collection.
fred with great care. Research suggests that a copper-lime pigment
was applied between two layers of colorless glaze. The copper-lime 清康熙 豇豆紅釉鏜鑼洗 三行六字楷書款
58 C H I N E S E A R T F R O M T H E A R T I N S T I T U T E O F C H I C A G O