Page 152 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

THE PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK COLLECTOR
1614
A RARE LARGE BLUE-GLAZED GLOBULAR VASE,
TIANQIUPING
YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE
BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)
The vase is covered with a rich dark blue glaze stopping neatly above the
foot and thinning to white below the mouth rim. The white interior and
base are covered in a clear glaze.
21º in. (54 cm.) high

$300,000-500,000
PROVENANCE:
Acquired prior to 1970, and thence by descent to the present owner.

清雍正 霽藍釉天球瓶 六字篆書款

The brilliant, jewel-like sapphire-blue glaze on this vase serves to It is rare to find a cobalt blue-glazed vase of this form and of such
emphasize the elegance of the form and the generosity of the proportions large size with a Yongzheng mark. Another rare example of similar size
of the vessel. The rich cobalt-blue glaze is sometimes referred to as from the Xulong Collection was exhibited at the Zhejiang Museum and
'sacrificial blue', deriving from the use of vessels bearing this color glaze published in A Collection of Porcelain, Beijing, 2006, pp. 118-119. A larger
during sacrifices at the Imperial Temple of Heaven. In 1369 the first Ming vase of slightly different proportions, also bearing a Yongzheng seal mark,
dynasty emperor Hongwu issued an edict declaring that the vessels used was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 486, entered
on the Imperial altars should henceforth be made of porcelain. Each the Wang Xing Lou Collection, and is illustrated in Imperial Perfection -
temples was associated with a specific color of porcelain, and in addition The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Hong Kong, 2004, pp.
to blue being used in the Temple of Heaven, red was used in the Temple 224-225, no. 87. More recently, a smaller (13 in.) cobalt-blue-glazed bottle
of the Sun, yellow in the Temple of Earth, and white in the Temple of the vase with Yongzheng mark from the E.T. Chow Collection was sold at
Moon. During the Qing dynasty, however, these massive monochrome Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 April 2019, lot 3658.
vases were made as part of decorative furnishings for the Palace.
Monochrome blue-glazed vases of this shape and glaze are more
The potters at the Imperial kilns in the eighteenth century were highly commonly found with Qianlong marks. One was included in the
skilled and the technology used to produce porcelains was highly exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, no. 85.
developed. By the eighteenth century, refining techniques were also quite Another example of slightly different shape is in the Baur Collection,
sophisticated and the additional elements in the cobalt ore to be used in Geneva, illustrated by J. Ayers and M. Sato in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Volume
coloring rich cobalt-blue glazes, like the glaze on the present vase, could 15, Qing Dynasty, Tokyo, 1983, p. 199, no. 272. A third example from the
largely be controlled. Elements such as iron and manganese, for example, Nanjing Museum Collection was included in the exhibition, Qing Imperial
had considerable effect on the color of the fired glaze. In addition, Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1995, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 66.
pigments that were high in alumina tended to develop cobalt aluminates
in firing, resulting in cooler blue tones, while pigments which contained
more silica produced cobalt silicates, resulting in warmer, more purplish,
blues.

(mark)