Page 211 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

909 A VERY RARE ‘PEACOCK FEATHER’- 清雍正ǭ孔雀藍釉棒槌≡ǭ四字篆書刻款
GLAZED MALLET VASE
YONGZHENG FOUR-CHARACTER INCISED SEAL MARK AND Ϝ源
OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735) 藍理捷
紐約
編號
The vase has a slightly tapering cylindrical body rising to an
angled shoulder below a tall cylindrical neck and is covered
overall with a rich, opaque lavender-blue glaze mottled with
deep reddish purple.
6Ω in. (16.5 cm.) high, cloth box
$250,000-350,000
PROVENANCE:
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4372.

The extraordinary effect of this glaze is achieved by applying an
opaque stippled turquoise glaze colored with copper and made
opaque by mixing the arsenic as an opacifier. Rose Kerr noted in
Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing dynasty, London, 1986, p. 88,
that while visual examination reveals there to be two distinctive
types of robin’s-egg glaze, one streaked with copper-red and the
other stippled with blotches of turquoise and dark blue, further
analysis is required to clarify the chemistry of these glazes. The
robin’s-egg glaze was a monochrome glaze first invented in the
Yongzheng reign. The peacock-feather glaze appears to be closely
related to the more common robin’s-egg glaze, but the former is
much rarer, possibly due to the difficulty in successfully achieving
its desired effect.

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