Page 16 - Christie's Hong Kong Imperial Amphora May 31, 2017

fig. 12 fig. 13
圖十二
fig. 12 the Yongzheng Emperor’s desire for new colours. A number of
Christie's London, recorded events attest to the Yongzheng Emperor’s fascination
10 June 1991, lot 162; with monochromes. Palace records for the 27th day of the
now in The Chen Art 12th month of the 10th year of Yongzheng’s reign (1733) note
Gallery, California an order from the emperor to Nian Xiyao ( 年 希 堯 d. 1738),
who had been appointed a minister of the Imperial Household
fig. 13 in 1726, and between 1726 and 1735 he was in charge of
Collection of the Palace the manufacture of porcelain at Jingdezhen as well as having
the post of Superintendent of customs at Huai’an in Jiangsu
Museum province. The emperor’s order required Nian Xiyao ‘to send
12 chrysanthemum-shaped dishes in different colours for the
fig. 14 inspection of the permanent guardian of the treasury and chief
Courtesy of The Chen eunuch Samuha’. The decree goes on to mention ‘forty dishes
Art Gallery, California in each colour to be fired in accordance with the samples’.
Interestingly more than 12 colours in this form are known in
fig. 15 the palace collections.
Christie’s Hong Kong,
27 May 2009, Lot 1830 A great deal of research and development was undertaken
under the kiln superintendents Nian Xiyao and Tang Ying ( 唐
英 AD 1682-1756), at the behest of the Yongzheng emperor,
and this included the development of a huge range of new
monochrome colours, as well as enamels. It is probable
that many of the new glaze colours were developed under
the auspices of the most famous of all the supervisors of the
Imperial kilns – Tang Ying. In the first year of the Yongzheng
reign (1723) Tang Ying was appointed Vice-Director of the
Imperial Household Department at court before being sent
to Jingdezhen in 1726, initially working as resident assistant
to Nian Xiyao, but soon assuming overall responsibility for
production at the Imperial kilns – responsibility which he
retained until the year of his death in 1756. TangYing became a
knowledgeable ceramicist in his own right, and also had literary created for one of the great Qing emperors, known for his
talent. His surviving writings provide much useful information
about production at Jingdezhen. In 1735 Tang wrote Taocheng
14
圖十三
jishi beiji ( 陶 成 記 事 碑 記 Commemorative Stele on Ceramic
Production). This lists some fifty-seven different types of wares,
and almost forty different glazes. Amongst these are some of
the glazes inspired by Song dynasty ceramics, for which Tang
Ying became well-known.
It is particularly relevant in relation to the current amphora that
amongst the glazes listed in Tang Ying’s Taocheng jishi beiji are
two which specifically copied Longquan glazes – one of pale
tone and one of deeper colour ( 仿龍泉釉：有淺，深兩種 ).
This is almost certainly a reference to the glaze on the current
amphora. Interestingly the other three glazes colours found
on Yongzheng amphorae of similar form to the current vessel
can also be found on Tang Ying’s list of glazes. It is probable
that the ‘sky-blue’ 天青 amphora in the collection of the Palace
Museum Beijing bears a glaze equivalent to that listed by Tang
Ying as a copy of a Ru glaze without crackles on a ‘copper’ body,
which was specifically copied from a Song dynasty bowl used
to wash the face ( 仿銅骨無紋汝釉：仿宋器貓食盤人面洗色
澤 ). The Guan-type glaze on the amphora from the Walters
Collection also appears to be listed by Tang Ying, and he notes
that the variants of this glaze were copied from Song dynasty
examples from the palace ( 仿鐵骨大觀釉：有月白，粉青，
大綠等三種，俱仿內發宋器色澤 ). The ‘teadust’ 茶葉末 glazes
on the amphorae of the same shape in the Koger and Idemitsu
collections are likely to be amongst those listed by Tang Ying
under ‘eel-skin’, ‘snake-skin green’, and ‘speckled yellow’ ( 鱔 魚
黃，蛇皮綠，黃斑點 ).
It is probable, therefore, that this exquisite Yongzheng amphora
was made under the auspices of Tang Ying, and was therefore
refined tastes and exacting standards, by the most talented and
revered of all the supervisors of the imperial kilns.