Page 38 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 Hong Kong

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A fine and very rare blue-glazed saucer dish
Kangxi six-character mark and of the period
Covered all over in a rich midnight blue leaving the extremities with a
thinner layer of glaze, the base with a six-character Imperial kaishu seal and believed that it would bring him bad luck
mark in underglaze-blue within double circles.
15.6cm diam.
HK$450,000 - 550,000
US$58,000 - 71,000
清康熙 祭藍釉敞口盤 青花雙圈「大清康熙年製」楷書款
The Kangxi emperor (1662-1722) successfully re-established the Imperial
kilns at Jingdezhen around 1680 after a long period of civil strife in
China. The porcelain kilns were originally destroyed in 1675 but were
quickly restored. Much porcelain manufactured during this period is
decorated with a clear and transparent underglazed-blue, where cobalt
blue was subtly applied in varying degrees of saturation to create depth
and volume.
To make Imperial blue and white porcelain during the Kangxi period as
exhibited by the current lot, cobalt blue pigments are applied directly
with a brush onto the unglazed biscuit, then glazed and finally fired. The
porcelain would remain black before firing due to the richness of the
cobalt blue pigments applied on the surface, before finally developing
the range of blue tones on firing. The current lot has achieved a unique
deep and pulsating sapphire blue colour which demonstrates a generous
amount of cobalt blue pigment.
36 | Bonhams
Legend states that the Kangxi Emperor issued an
Imperial decree ordering that no piece of porcelain
with his Imperial seal mark was to be made for
non-Palace use, for he was very superstitious
should one of the Imperial porcelains break. This
further shows the rarity of the current lot which
is in perfect condition and bears the Imperial six-
character seal mark.
Compare a similar but larger example of a blue-glazed dish also with
Kangxi six-character mark in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, illustrated in
Treasures in the Royalty. The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing
Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.112.
康熙時期，政權趨於穩固，社會經濟恢復發展，康熙皇帝專門任命督陶
官督理景德鎮製瓷，使其製瓷業得到全面發展。康熙一朝所燒製祭藍釉
多數是仿造明代宣德寶石藍品種，類似的例子，參看南京博物院藏一件
康熙祭藍釉盤，著錄於《宮廷珍藏中國清代官窯瓷器》，上海，2003
年，頁112。