Page 224 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

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A RARE ‘EEL-SKIN’ GLAZED TRIPOD FLOWER 清雍正 鱔魚黃釉雙繫花囊
VESSEL 《雍正年製》款
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG
with a compressed globular body supported on three short 來源：
conical feet, the underside of the belly studded with bosses, 香港蘇富比2011年4月8日，編號3003
the shoulder set with a pair of loop handles, covered overall
in a thick olive-green glaze suffused with golden speckles
stopping neatly around the tips of the feet, the base with a
four-character seal mark
20 cm, 7⅞ in.
PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 3003.
HK$ 700,000-900,000
US$ 89,500-115,000

The ever-improving technical ability of the Jingdezhen
potters during the Yongzheng period, set of a number
of inspiring and ambitious ventures which included the
re-creation of completely different media in ceramics. Wood,
lacquer, metal and stone became popular materials to be
imitated, amongst which bronze simulations demanded skills
far more challenging and ambitious than what was normally
expected. The opaque and mottled glaze on this piece,
which is known as ‘eel-skin’, was achieved through the high
concentration of iron oxide in the glaze, and required to be
fired in a weak reduction atmosphere and slowly cooled to
result in this unique patina that resembles bronze.
A closely related jardinière was sold in our London rooms,
21st June 1983, lot 336; and a tripod censer of globular
form, also with Yongzheng mark and of the period, from
the collection of H.R.N. Norton and later in the Hall Family
Collection, sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 537.
Compare also a similar vessel in flambé glaze in the Hong
Kong Museum of Art, illustrated in The wonders of the
potter’s palette: Qing ceramics from the collection of the
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong
Kong, 1984, cat. no. 62.

Mark

222 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART