Page 6 - 2020 September 22 Kangxi Porcelain Asia Week NYC

9/2/2020 Kangxi Porcelain – A Private Collection | Sotheby's

展覽
《求知雅集珍藏•中國古陶瓷展》，香港中文大學文物館，香港，1981年，編號125
《中國名陶日本巡迴展•港台名家收藏陶瓷精品》，日本橋高島屋，東京，1992年，頁165

Catalogue Note
This attractive bottle with its tall tapering body, delicate foot and gently flared neck is an iconic product of the imperial kilns under
the direction of the early Qing court. Its delicate form exudes a sense of understated elegance while its luscious glaze, with dark-
red flecks combined with various hues of green, evokes a design formed in nature. Ralph M. Chait succinctly describes bottles of
this type as defying description, ‘as the pen cannot convey any idea of its subtle rhythm of line, mass and balance’ (Ralph M. Chait,
'The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes bearing K’ang Hsi Marks', Oriental Art, vol. III, no. 4, Winter 1957, p. 139).

With its wide range of tones and variegated effects, the peachbloom glaze ranks among the most important innovations developed
by the imperial kiln factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Peachbloom is special among Qing dynasty glazes as it deliberately
exploits the different decorative effects that the elusive copper pigment produced during firing. Copper pigment had been largely
abandoned after the Xuande reign (r. 1426-35) because it was notoriously difficult to fire and often produced uneven and
unsatisfactory results. To control the pigment’s tendency to run, copper-lime was sprayed onto the surface of the vessel through a
bamboo tube that had a piece of gauze at one end, ‘sandwiched’ between two layers of clear glaze. This technique allowed for a
wide range of natural effects, as seen in the dark-red flecks and large watery-green patch above the foot of this piece. While
technically innovative, the serendipitous nature of this glaze is reminiscent of Song dynasty (960-1279) wares, which were
admired for their subtle variations.

After a period of standstill that lasted nearly sixty years from the end of the Wanli period (1573-1620), the imperial kilns at
Jingdezhen were revived and placed under the direct control of the court. The appointment of Zang Yingxuan as supervisor of the
imperial kilns and his arrival at Jingdezhen on the 20th year of Kangxi’s reign, corresponding to 1681, initiated a new era of high-
quality production. Imperial peachbloom wares were produced only in the Kangxi period and leading scholars including Peter Lam
and Wang Qingzheng suggest they can be attributed to the period Zang was supervisor of the kilns, on the grounds of textual and
stylistic evidence (Wang Qingzheng, ‘Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares of the Kangxi Era, Qing Dynasty’, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the
Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pp XIX and XX; Peter Lam, ‘Qing Monochromes and Tang Ying’, A Millenium of
Monochromes: From the Great Tang to the High Qing, The Baur and the Zhuyuetang Collection, The Baur Foundation, Geneva, 2018,
p. 146). However, a copper-red ‘souffle’ glaze is mentioned in the 1712 letter written by the Jesuit missionary Père d’Entrecolles
(1664-1741), suggesting that peachbloom wares may still have been produced at that time (Lu Minghua, ‘Qing Imperial
Monochromes of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns’, Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zande Lou Collection, Shanghai
Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp 28 and 29).

The peachbloom glaze is found on a small number of vessels, which were first discussed by Ralph Chait in his influential essay op.
cit., pp 130-137. Chait refers to this vase as Guanyin ping (Guanyin bottle), as the bodhisattva Guanyin is often depicted holding
such a vase. Vases of this form are also known as liuye ping (willow-leaf bottles), in reference to one of Guanyin’s attributes, a
branch of willow, or alluding to the resemblance of its form to a slender willow leaf. The form of this vase is particularly elegant and
would have required a stand to be securely displayed as its narrow foot, recessed base and elongated form made it unstable. The
potter cleverly designed the piece with a high foot which has been left unglazed to accommodate the stand.

Peachbloom vases of this form include a bottle in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the
Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 23, Shunzhi (1644-1661) and Kangxi (1662-1722) Periods of Qing Dynasty (II), Beijing, 2013, pl. 37; a
vase in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, p. 56 (top right), together with one
in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, p. 73 (right); and a further bottle in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the
Museum’s exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 29.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/kangxi-porcelain-a-private-collection?locale=en 6/50