Page 180 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

RUBY-BACK PORCELAINS

An Extraordinary Achievement of the Yongzheng Kilns

Ⅻ峰造極：雍正胭脂紅粉彩

by Becky MacGuire

t was during the relatively short reign of the Yongzheng Emperor and overglaze enamels. But it was the further development of the
that arguably the finest enameled Chinese porcelains were made, so-called ‘famille rose’ palette (called, in its different iterations,
Iand Yongzheng ‘ruby-back’ wares represent a pinnacle of this yangcai, fencai or falangcai in China) in about 1720 that enabled the
production. Meticulously painted in the new ‘famille rose’ palette of achievements of the Yongzheng era. The arrival of this pivotal new
delicate tones and subtle shading, ruby-back dishes and small bowls palette has long been broadly understood from both the evidence
were often formed of the very thin porcelain known as ‘eggshell’, further of mark and period examples and the surprisingly detailed and
enhancing their refinement. Some have edge-to-edge decoration, accurate 1720s letters written from Jingdezhen by the French Jesuit
typically asymmetrical and with compelling use of negative space, Père d’Entrecolles. Yongzheng marked pieces demonstrate that this
while many display charming scenes with complex series of intricately enameling had been mastered, as do datable export pieces displaying
patterned borders. Favored subjects for these scenes were elegant the new, opaque rose pink, such as the very thinly potted teawares
mothers and their sons, the women seated on rattan and wood enameled with the arms of the VOC after a coin of 1728.
benches amongst large, floor-standing jars and tables of antiques.
Others featured cockerels or phoenix alongside lush peonies or, more But in recent decades this story has been fleshed out by both research
occasionally, clusters of fruits or even landscape. into Chinese Imperial archives and scientific analysis of enamel
components. The lead-arsenate white that is key to the new palette
The technological and aesthetic achievement of these exquisite was known to Chinese cloisonné makers in the 17 century. And under
th
porcelains was the culmination of 400 years of porcelain production the Kangxi Emperor the Imperial glassworks were conversant with
at Jingdezhen. Jingdezhen kilns had long mastered the many steps the new enamels, as seen in a small group of Kangxi yuzhi pieces. It is
necessary to the creation of high-fired, glazed wares with fine, white likely, as long believed, that Jesuit gifts of European painted enamels
vitrified bodies as well as the sophisticated painting of both underglaze had whetted the Imperial appetite for the further development of this

清雍正年祚雖短，但瓷業昌盛，せ臻高峰，堪稱中४瓷器史ⅲ黃金時代ǐ雍正 然而，及至 年ע後，Ǚ粉彩ǚ（又稱Ǚ洋彩ǚǏǙ琺琅彩ǚ）技術方
瓷器釉色齊ҧ，屢創新品，胭脂紅ঃ彩❡即ˏ૯成就ǐ胭脂紅釉清麗雅✇，η 臻於成熟，確⒤Ǚ雍正粉彩ǚⅲ顯㈥ঃΨǐ法४耶穌會ૈ裴德祿（1rSF
ঃ巧拼粉彩圖案̃玲․小盤Ǐ小盌，瓷質♢薄Ỏ如蛋殼，施釉♢膩˞❡畫ҷ EĞ&OUSFDPMMFT） 年代從景德鎮寄֨ⅲ書П，曾鉅♢無遺ঃ〦述₤ঃ瓷
神ǐ胭脂紅ঃ與粉彩紋飾Τ局૨樣，有通體̧參，有ન˖開Բ，有襯綴邊飾， 器，所涉̃底款及紀年為後ˠ留˗寶貴ⅲ文字紀錄ǐ現存雍正帶款範例ⅲ水平
ˏ概構圖֘✁，時見虛實相間，華而˙✡ǐ紋飾主題ㅵ富，͠各類́ḵ故̢居 ̃高，即Ւ藝術成就̃ˏ૯Ϋㄗǐ可按商貿文件溯源̃景德鎮外銷瓷器，̑提
૨，如仕女嬰戲，背景博۵儒雅，又˙̆各式花鳥圖案，如雉雞或夔鳳Ḱ丹， 及過Ǚ玫瑰粉色ǚⅲ新穎品種，例如瓷胎♢薄ⅲ粉彩茶Փ，即帶有荷蘭東印度
̷ґ見瓜瓞碧桃Ǐ山水樓閣等等ǐ Ռ司按 年⋚幣圖案設計̃紋⒯ǐ
雍正胭脂紅粉彩水平㈹卓，˙ゲ燒造技術，抑或美學成就，都建基於景德 近ڑˠ紀，隨著學者對清宮檔案ⅲ反複研②，؟˖釉彩科學ֱ析技術日益進
鎮ो百年ⅲ造瓷Ѫ業ǐη為歷史悠久ⅲ陶瓷重鎮，景德鎮⒋早年已駕馭燒 步，˖述粉彩▒史逐漸得͠補➚拾遺ǐ十ˑˠ紀，含砷酸鉛ⅲ白釉成爲掐絲
製胎白質♢ⅲ高溫釉瓷技術，陶匠對釉˗彩Ǐ釉˖彩ⅲ掌控̷相₤★✁ǐ 琺瑯ⅲ釉彩★髓，康熙御製玻璃器̑用˖ึ新色料ǐ長久͠Ϝ，有を清帝對色

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