Page 27 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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A RARE ‘ROBIN’S EGG’-GLAZED VASE (MEIPING), 清乾隆 爐鈞釉梅瓶
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD
Height 11½ in., 29.3 cm 來源：
Howard W. Hayes (1858-1903) 收藏
PROVENANCE
Mary Vanderpool Pennington 收藏
Collection of Howard W. Hayes (1858-1903).
Collection of Mary Vanderpool Pennington. 1949年贈予紐瓦克博物館，紐瓦克 (館藏編號
49.480)
Gifted to The Newark Museum, Newark, in 1949 (accession
no. 49.480).
Innovated during the Yongzheng period (1723-35) and
particularly favored by the Qianlong Emperor, the ‘robin’s
egg’ glaze was created as a reinterpretation of Jun glazes
of the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties.
A development attributable to Tang Ying (1682-1756), the
glaze was coined lujun, or ‘furnace Jun’ because it was fired
at a lower temperature than that of firing the porcelain.
This glaze is mentioned on a stele inscribed by Tang Ying
in Jingdezhen as one of the major types of ceramics that
he succeeded in firing and proposed as suitable for regular
delivery to the imperial court. The mottled turquoise effect
on the present vase, achieved with the use of copper and
arsenic, is particularly finely applied and the shade is of an
attractively vivid light turquoise blue.
Although the production of ‘robin’s egg’ glaze lasted till the
end of the Qing dynasty, the finest pieces were created in the
18th century. According to the archival records of the imperial
household, vases with this glaze were often displayed in the
rooms on matching zitan wood stands. Simple yet elegant in
design, this meiping not only reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s
fine taste but also possesses a timeless appeal.
Very few Qianlong meiping applied with ‘robin’s egg’
glazes are known. See a slightly larger Qianlong meiping
with a more tapered shoulder and foot, sold three times,
first in our London rooms, 10th December 1991, lot 293,
and then in our Hong Kong rooms, 1st May 2001, lot
520 before entering The Ten-Views Lingbi Rock Retreat
Collection, and sold recently in the same rooms, 9th
October 2022, lot 3640. Compare also a smaller example,
sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2016, lot
3322. For a Yongzheng prototype, see one of smaller size
from the collection of John Milton Bonham, sold in our
New York rooms, 11th September 2019, lot 621.
Elegantly proportioned, the form of this meiping is very
typical of the Qianlong period. See a Qianlong celadon-
glazed ‘dragon’ meiping, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms,

4th-5th November 1997, lot 1356 and 9th October 2023,
lot 3612; a blue and white example, from the collections of
Robert Chang and Dr. Alice Cheng, sold in our Hong Kong
rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 123; and another yellow-ground
blue and white meiping, first sold in our Hong Kong rooms,
23rd-24th March 1998, lot 674, and later at Christie’s
New York, 25th September 2020, lot 1615.
$ 80,000-120,000

50 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 PROPERTY SOLD TO BENEFIT THE NEWARK MUSEUM ACQUISITION ENDOWMENT 51