Page 32 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2015 Hong Kong

The ‘fish basket’ vessel is an outstanding example of tradition and
innovation embraced by the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors, and
brought to fruition through the exceptional skills of the potters in the
imperial kilns. Deceptively modest in look, it is a masterful feat of well- seal mark and period, from the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in The
balanced form combined with a superbly executed glaze, resulting in
an exquisite harmonious work of art.
The earliest examples of this form, referred to as yu lou zun (‘fish
basket’) dated to the Yongzheng period; see a teadust-glazed ‘fish
basket’ vessel, Yongzheng seal mark and period, illustrated by Geng
Baochang, Gugong bowuyuan cang qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol.1, part
2, Beijing, 2005, pl.13; and also a guan-type glazed ‘fish basket’
vessel, Yongzheng seal mark and period, from the collection of Sir
Augustus Wollaston Franks in the British Museum, London, museum
no.Franks.736. In form the vessel is inspired by Song dynasty incense
burners or washers, particularly with regard to the raised studs, such
as the one illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996,
pl.129. The glaze imitates the prized guan glaze produced during the
Southern Song dynasty, which alongside other Song dynasty ru and
jun glaze were reproduced during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns.
Three examples of similar ‘fish basket’ vessels, Qianlong seal mark
and period, in varying glazes are in the Palace Museum, Beijing: the
first, with a guan-type glaze, is illustrated in The Complete Collection
of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Monochrome Porcelain, Hong
Kong, 1999, pl.209; the second, with a ru-type glaze, is illustrated in
Ceramics Gallery of the Palace Museum: Part II, Beijing, 2010, pl.381;
and the third with a robin’s egg glaze, is illustrated by Feng Xianming
A robin’s-egg glazed ‘fish basket’ vessel, Qianlong seal mark
and period; image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing
清乾隆 爐鈞釉雙系三足魚簍尊
北京故宮博物院藏
30 | BONHAMS
and Geng Baochang, Selected Porcelain of the Flourishing Qing
Dynasty at the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1994, p.356, pl.93. See
also an example painted with lotus scrolls in underglaze blue, Qianlong
Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003,
p.229.
Several examples are extant in important private collections: two guan-
type examples, Qianlong seal mark and period, also from the J.M.Hu
collection, are illustrated in Qing Imperial Monochromes The Zande
Lou Collection, pp.96-97, pl.31; a further guan-type glazed example,
Qianlong seal mark and period, is illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese
Ceramics of the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, no.872, and later sold at
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 5.
See also a related Ru-type ‘fish basket’ vessel, Qianlong seal mark and
of the period, also from the J.M.Hu Family Collection, sold at Sotheby’s
New York, 4 June 1985, lot 60 and later at Sotheby’s Hong Kong,
14 November 1989, lot 189, illustrated in Sotheby’s Hong Kong,
Twenty Years, 1993, p.228, no.323, and Eskenazi Ltd., Qing Porcelain
from a Private Collection, London, 2012, pl.11
A ru-type glazed ‘fish basket’ vessel, Qianlong seal mark and period;
image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing
清乾隆 仿汝釉雙系三足魚簍尊
北京故宮博物院藏