Page 21 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION 清雍正 粉青釉燈籠瓶
A FINE, SUPERB AND RARE CELADON-GLAZED 《大清雍正年製》款
JAR
MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG
the tall cylindrical body elegantly sweeping up to a gently
sloping shoulder set with a short straight neck, covered overall
with an even pale bluish-green glaze, the base inscribed with a
six-character mark in underglaze blue
25.7 cm, 10⅛ in.
HK$ 1,500,000-2,000,000
US$ 194,000-258,000
The simplicity of this vase, from the minimalist form and subtle
translucent glaze, conceals the mastery involved in creating
such a piece. The proficiency required in understanding the
chemical compositions and the firing of such monochrome
vessels is reflected in the saying, ‘Nine failures for ten charged
kilns’. The delicate, almost watery, tone of celadon is a Kangxi
innovation which was produced by lessening the amount of
iron typically found in Song dynasty Longquan celadons. This
glaze was further modified during the Yongzheng period to the
finely textured bluish tone as seen on the present vase.
Two closely related examples were sold in these rooms, 30th
October 2002, lot 227 and 10th April 2006, lot 160, and one
sold in our New York rooms, 18th March 2014, lot 451, from the
Estate of Angela Ciccio Schirone. A vase of this type but with
a cover, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is published in The
Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai,
2003, p. 192; a pair from the J.M. Hu collection was sold in our
New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 34; another pair from the
British Rail Pension Fund was sold twice in these rooms, 29th
November 1976, lot 524, and again, 16th May 1989, lot 60; and
a third pair was sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September
2004, lot 310.
A Yongzheng blue and white jar of this form and size, also
with a cover, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing,
is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed
Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 104; and another from the Palace
Museum, Beijing, is included in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II,
Beijing, 2005, pl. 39.

Mark

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