Page 30 - Importan Chinese Art Christie's May 2018

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A RARE COPPER-RED DECORATED EWER
HONGWU PERIOD (1368-1398)
明洪武 釉裡紅纏枝牡丹紋執壺
The pear-shaped vessel is painted to the exterior in varied greyish tones of
underglaze red with large peony blooms and leafy scrolls below a cloud collar
and ascending bands of peony scroll, key fret and stif leaves. It has a large
strap handle and a long, curved spout, the latter decorated with lotus blooms
and leafy scrolls between bands of classic scroll to the tip and base of the
spout.
13º in. (33.5 cm.) high
£70,000–90,000 $99,000–130,000
€80,000–100,000

PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's London, 16 May 2007, lot 32
來源:
倫敦蘇富比2007年5月16日拍賣, 拍品32號
The Emperor Hongwu was fond of ceramics decorated in copper-red. From
its appearance in the Tang dynasty, the use of copper to produce red in
high-fred ceramics has proved a challenge to the potter as the colourant was
volatile in the fring and produced an unpredictable range of shades from rich
red to brownish-grey. Despite the technical dificulties in controlling copper
during the fring process, many of the fnest underglaze-red decorated
porcelains were made during the Hongwu period.
Several known examples of this type of rare Hongwu ewer are recorded. Two
copper-red decorated ewers, one in the Percival David Collection and another
in the Matsuoka Art Museum, are included in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14,
Tokyo, 1976, fgs. 13 and 12. Another example from the Qing Court collection
is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed
Red (I), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 201.

28 Other fees apply in addition to the hammer price – see Section D of our Conditions of Sale at the back of this Catalogue