Page 33 - SOTHEBYS MARCH 18 AND 19 2025

124
A PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED SEAL PASTE BOX Compare a number of similar seal boxes preserved in
AND COVER, MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI important collections around the world: one of several in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in
the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue (2) Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics,
Diameter 3⅞ in., 9.8 cm
New York, 1989, fig. 237; another in the Palace Museum,
PROVENANCE Beijing, published in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing
Porcelain from the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 124;
Collection of Herman A. E. (d. 1951) and Paul C. (d. 1951) Jaehne.
Gifted to The Newark Museum, Newark, in 1941 (accession and a third in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included
in the museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng
no. 41.1968C-D).
and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty,
The present seal paste box, also known as yinse he or Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 11. See also examples sold at auction:
‘vermilion box’, represents one of eight canonical shapes one from the Leshantang Collection, sold in our Hong
of peachbloom wares said to have been made for the Kong rooms, 8th October 2023, lot 109; another from the
scholar’s tables of the Kangxi court. These pieces, known collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) later sold in these
by connoisseurs as the Badama (‘Eight Great Numbers’), rooms, 22nd September 2020, lot 102; and a third, formerly
are among the most sought after examples of imperial in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from
monochrome porcelain ever produced, admired for their the Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, sold in these rooms,
understated forms and dazzling peachbloom glaze. To 10th September 2019, lot 42.
achieve this dappled coloration, also known in Chinese
as ‘apple red,’ ‘bean red’, or ‘drunken beauty,’ artisans of $ 60,000-80,000
the imperial kilns required the utmost technical precision.
Blowing a copper-lime pigment through a bamboo tube
onto a layer of clear glaze and covering again with clear 清康熙 豇豆紅釉印泥盒
glaze to trap the spray in situ, this complex procedure, and 《大清康熙年製》款
the carefully controlled firing that followed, resulted in a
spellbinding palette of variegated vermillion, pink and even 來源
the occasional green, that continues to inspire collectors and Herman A. E. (1951年逝) 及 Paul C. (1951年逝)
contemporary ceramicists to this day.
Jaehne 收藏
1941年贈予紐瓦克博物館, 紐瓦克 (館藏編號
41.1968C-D)

62 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 PROPERTY OF THE NEWARK MUSEUM OF ART, SOLD TO SUPPORT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS 63