Page 180 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

~895 A LARGE TIANBAI-GLAZED JAR 明永樂ǭ甜白釉大罐
YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1425)
The heavily-potted high-shouldered jar is covered overall with Ϝ源
a fine 'sweet white' glaze shading to pale greenish-blue, with the 藍理捷
紐約
編號
base and bottom of the foot left unglazed.
展覽
紐約
藍理捷
「$IJOFTF $FSBNJDT JO #MBDL BOE 8IJUF」
13¡ in. (34 cm.) high, hardwood and rootwood cover with jade
年 月 月 日
finial, cloth box
$20,000-30,000 ֨ḛ
藍理捷
《$IJOFTF $FSBNJDT JO #MBDL BOE 8IJUF》
紐約
PROVENANCE: 年
編號
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4291.
EXHIBITED:
New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics in Black and White,
20 March-10 April 2010.

LITERATURE:
J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics in Black and White, New York,
2010, no. 34

This jar is a rare example of the so-called tianbai (sweet white)
glaze applied to a large vessel. The slightly matte, silky tianbai glaze
was developed in the Yongle reign (1403-25) in response to the
emperor's preference for white porcelains and his desire to have
fine white wares both for use in the Palace and for ceremonial
purposes. Excavations at the site of the Imperial kilns have shown
that by far the greatest proportion of imperial porcelains made
during the Yongle reign were white. Even in the Xuande reign
(1426-35), when imperial production was dominated by underglaze
blue-decorated wares, fine tianbai white wares were highly prized
by the court. Few surviving white vessels from either reign period,
however, match the large size of the current jar.

An early Ming ‘sweet white’-glazed jar of slightly larger size
than the present jar, with lotus-leaf shaped porcelain cover, in the
collection of the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated by Xu Huping
in The Treasures of the Nanjing Museum, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 56,
no. 39. Another slightly larger white jar of similar shape to the
current example was excavated from the Xuande strata of the
Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in 1983, illustrated in Imperial Porcelain
of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming
Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1989,
pp. 212-3, no. 65. See, also, another smaller guan of closely related
form, with dragons lightly engraved under a ‘sweet white’ (tian bai)
glaze, excavated from the site of the Ming imperial kilns at
Jingdezhen and dated to the Yongle period, illustrated in Yuan and
Ming Imperial Porcelains Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Beijing, 1999,
p. 146, no. 95.

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