Page 81 - Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings, Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets

1942.9-516-520 (C-369-373)
Amphora Vases

Qing dynasty, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)
Porcelain with peachbloom glaze,
3
1942.9.516: 157 X 5.2 (6 /i6 X 2Vi6)
1942.9.517: 15.6 x 5.3 (6Vs x 2 Vie)
l
1942.9.518: 15.6 X 5.3 (6V8 X 2 /i6)
3
1942.9.519: 157 X 5.2 (6 /i6 X 2 M6)
1942.9.520: 154 X 5.3 (6Vi6 X 2Vi6)
Widener Collection
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed in standard script on the slightly concave surface of the under the lip on the outside and dark green spots inside
deeply recessed base of each vase in underglaze blue in two the lip. The glaze has a slight skinlike texture. The vase is
columns of three small characters each: Da Qing Kangxi nian zhi almost identical in shape to 1942.9.517. The glaze color of
[made in the Kangxi reign of the great Qing dynasty] both 1942.9.517 and 518 is predominantly a muted
creamy pink, with a few green flecks inside the mouth of
TECHNICAL NOTES 1942.9.518. The two vases have been shown as a matched
1942.9.516: There is a small chip on the foot. 1942.9.517: There is pair. The unglazed band at the base, designed to fit in a
an original, accidental blue spot inside the foot. 1942.9.518: 1
There are some minor chips in the biscuit on the edge of the stand, measures .7 cm ( A in.) in 1942.9.517 and .75 cm (Va
foot. 1942.9.519: The biscuit foot is chipped almost completely in.) in 1942.9.518.
around its circumference. 1942.9.520: The biscuit foot, which The glaze color of 1942.9.519 is deep rose with splotches
originally would have been approximately half a centimeter of lighter tone. Neck and shoulder are primarily the lighter
high, as in other examples of this shape, has been ground down pink, heavily speckled with moss green, and there are green
almost to the glaze line. speckles inside the mouth. The final vase in this group,
1942.9.520, is distinguished by a dramatic dappling and
PROVENANCE clouding of clear "haricot red " light pink, and varied tints
Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; sold 1913 to Peter A. B. of green and neutral over the entire surface. One of the
Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheri- palest shades has been described as "mushroom" color.
tance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power There is a concentration of green color at the mouth.
of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Many peachbloom amphora vases are preserved in
EPRESENTING A LARGE CATEGORY of the peachbloom collections worldwide. Perhaps the extreme refinement
R porcelains destined for the elite is the delicate of the shape appealed to collectors 3 of seventeenth- and
tapered vase, usually called an "amphora," although it eighteenth-century monochromes.
only vaguely resembles the Greek shape of that name. 1 JK
Although the foot diameter is very small, the balance of
the form is maintained. The elegant line of the slender NOTES
bottle shape is rhythmic, from the slightly flared mouth,
narrow neck, and curved shoulder to the narrow foot. To 1. See the entry for the pale blue vase, 1942.9.492, for a detailed
reduce the risk of tipping over, the vase's thin unglazed discussion of the history of the terminology used to describe
vase.
the amphora
foot would have been inserted into a securely fitting
ivory or metal stand. The white biscuit of the foot would 2. See 1942.9.506, p. 60, note 7. "Kidney bean red" is the color
then be concealed by the stand. In the past some collec- designation used in Shanghai 1983,183, no. 142.
tors, disliking the appearance of the deep white base, had 3. An exquisite example, comparable in perfection of tech-
it ground down so that only a narrow line of white nique to 1942.9.516, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
remained. This does not effect the proportions of the bequest of Benjamin Altman, 14.40.381: Valenstein 1975, color
vase as it was designed to be seen. The base is tradition- pi. 35, upper left; also Valenstein 1989, pi. 235. Another fine spec-
is in
Collection
Baur
the
Geneva:
Ayers 1968-1974, 3:
imen
in
ally deeply hollowed, to a depth of as much as half an A3O3, no. 490. Others are Morgan 1904-1911, 2: no. 1326, pi. 124,
inch, and covered with a colorless glaze. now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art: sale, Sotheby's, Hong
The first example, 1942.9.516, is remarkable for its pure Kong, 29 November 1977, lot 94; Lee 1970, no. 351; Sotheby's, 30
2
and even "haricot-red" glaze. There is soft green color May 1981,122, lot 785, color repro.

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