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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED EAST COAST PRIVATE 清乾隆 紅釉梅瓶 《大清乾隆年製》款
COLLECTION
A FINE COPPER-RED-GLAZED MEIPING, SEAL
MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG
the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue
Height 12 in., 30.5 cm
The use of copper-red glaze at Jingdezhen was revived by
the Kangxi Emperor after the decline in usage during the
late 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. With the effort to
reproduce classic Ming sacrificial-red (jihong) porcelains,
Qing copper-red pieces quickly outnumbered their Ming
counterparts. Nigel Wood in Chinese Glazes, London,
1999, p. 180, notes how the French Jesuit missionary,
Pere Francois D’Entrecolles (b. 1664-1741) wrote letters
giving detailed accounts of the copper-red production
at Jingdezhen, the sourcing of the copper for the glaze,
the recipes and the kiln location of the firing of these
wares. D’Entrecolles was aware of the difficulties involved in
the making of copper-red wares and his account confirms
the high level of technical knowledge of the potters at
Jingdezhen. Although copper-red pieces can be readily
found from the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, by Qianlong’s
reign they become fewer in number.
Qianlong meiping in copper-red glaze are rare, although a
small number are recorded, ranging between 9 and 12.5
inches in height. See a slightly smaller meiping in the Roemer
Museum, Hildesheim, also with a Qianlong reign mark and
of the period, illustrated in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches
Porzellan, Mainz am Rhein, 1981, pl. 99; and another sold in
our Hong Kong rooms, 10th April 2006, lot 1521. A further
example, from the Jingguantang Collection, was sold at
Christie’s Hong Kong, 5th November 1997, lot 864; another
from the collection of Professor Ross Edman, was sold twice
in these rooms, 23rd September 1995, lot 426 and again,
18th March 2008, lot 151; and a third was also sold in these
rooms, 15th September 2010, lot 264.
$ 30,000-50,000

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