Page 140 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong

3316 Yongzheng vases of this large size are extremely rare and the
AN IMPORTANT LARGE AND RARE RU-TYPE
BALUSTER VASE, FANGHU
YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE
AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)
Well potted, the tapering square-section body rising in a graceful
line from the splayed foot to the wide shoulder, the waisted neck
rising to a lipped rim, flanked by a pair of wide strap handles
terminating at the shoulder in large ruyi heads, covered overall in a
highly attractive unctuous pale blue glaze suffused with subtle pale
crackle.
19 Ω in. (49.6 cm.) high, wood box
HK$3,000,000-5,000,000 US$390,000-650,000
PROVENANCE
Monseigneur le Comte (1908-1999) et la Comtesse de Paris
(1911-2003)
清雍正 仿汝釉如意耳方壺 六字篆書款
來源
Monseigneur le Comte (1908-1999) 及 Comtesse de Paris (1911-
2003) 公爵夫婦
Prince Henri of Orleans, Count of Paris was the Orleanist claimant to
the throne of France from 1940 until his demise in 1999. The Count
of Paris spent many of his formative years in exile in Morocco before
returning to France in 1950 after the law of exile was rescinded.
Much of the collection inherited by the Count of Paris came directly
from his royal ancestors, members of the House of Bourbon. It is likely
to have been the Duke of Orleans, or his cousin Prince Henri of Orleans, greatest of all the supervisors of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying, who first
the two great explorers of the family, who brought the current vase
back from their travels. The family spent several periods in exile and
during the Second World War the collection was sent to be housed in
London, Morocco and Belgium. After the end of the war the collection
was returned with Henri, 2nd Count of Paris to the family in France.
138
current vase stands out as an exceptional example of the Yongzheng
adaptation of the Song dynasty Ru glaze.
Few Yongzheng examples of this shape have been published and they
are usually found in a paler crackled grey Guan-type glaze such as
the Yongzheng-marked example of the same form in the Tianjin Arts
Museum, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Treasures of 5000 Years,
Cultural Relics from Tianjin City in China, Japan, 1985, illustrated in the
Catalogue, no. 44. Compare also a smaller square-section Guan-type
vase in the Zande Lou Collection of similar inspiration but without the
splayed foot or everted mouth found on the present vase, included in
the exhibition, Qing Imperial Monochromes, the Zande Lou Collection,
Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, pp.
56-57, no. 11. A Yongzheng-marked Guan-type vase of the same form
but slightly smaller in size, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 May
1995, lot 100; and again, 10 April 2006, lot 1614. Another slightly larger
Guan-type example with more pronounced stained crackling was sold
at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 174.
Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese
connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century.
Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that
Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a
porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from
the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns published 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.
276-7, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more
popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong
Emperors.
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular admiration
of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from his reign were made
with fine Ru-style glazes. It is possible that the copy of Song dynasty
Ru ware glazes made for the Yongzheng emperor was devised by the
came to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was especially
known for his highly successful imitation of early wares. Indeed the
Jingdezhen tao lu notes that: ‘His close copies of famous wares of the
past were without exception worthy partners (of the originals); and his
copies of every kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly
matched ...’ translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - porcelain of the
Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, p. 20.