Page 123 - Fine Chinese Ceramics Sept 2016
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PROVENANCE A small number of Xuande copper-red dishes can be found in the
Chinese palace collections. However, most of these examples
W.W. Winkworth (1897-1991) Collection. have a six-character mark in underglaze blue on the base. There
Sotheby’s London, 12 December 1972, lot 38. is one example which, like the present dish, bears an incised
Dr. Peter M. Greiner (1940-2013) Collection. six-character Xuande mark. It was included in an exhibition of
Xuande porcelains at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and
EXHIBITED is illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected
Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp.
Battle Creek, Michigan, A Walk Into China’s Past, 1980-1981, no. 61. 394-5, no. 170.
LITERATURE Two examples of Xuande-marked copper-red dishes in the Percival
David Foundation with similar incised six-character marks inside
Adrian M. Joseph, Ming Porcelains: Their Origins and Development, a double circle are included in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and
London, 1971, p. 73, no. 99. Qing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of
Dr. Peter M. Greiner, A Walk into China’s Past, Michigan, 1980, Chinese Art, London, rev. ed. 1989, p. 33, no. 556, and p. 32, no.
no. 61. A519. Compare, also, the slightly larger (8 ¬ in.) Xuande-marked
copper-red dish from the Meiyintang Collection, formerly in the
One of the most widely admired glazes in the history of Chinese R.H.R. Palmer Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April
porcelain production is the rich copper-red glaze seen on this 2013, lot 9. Another Xuande-marked copper-red-glazed shallow
Xuande dish. Successfully fred copper-red-glazed porcelains dish of slightly larger size (8 in.) was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
from the early 15th century, like the current example, are especially 1 December 2010, lot 3108.
favored by connoisseurs, due to the combination of color and
texture of the glaze. Not only is this a particularly beautiful glaze, 明宣德 寳石紅釉盤 雙圈六字楷書款
it is also rare, since successful fring of this copper-red glaze was
extremely dificult.
1320 (mark)
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1320
