Page 248 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

Dated 1775, the poem inscribed on the base of this vase is 瓶罩紅釉發色濃豔，流敞自然，輕掛垂肩，亮麗雍雅，妙
recorded in the Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quan ji [Anthology 仿宣窰，誠康熙郎窰典範。朝綱替更，不減其美，先帝御
of imperial poems] and can be translated as follows: 製佳器如此，傳至乾隆一朝，高宗同羡之，賞其霽紅嬌
妍，乾隆四十年（1775年），賦詩頌揚，命刻於底。同詩
Its glaze incandesces like the fiery red sky after the rain. 又見於北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏康熙郎窰紅釉穿帶瓶，圖
Once out of the kiln, it has to return to 見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．顏色釉》，香港，1999
the flickering flames. 年，圖版14；故宮圖錄中指乾隆帝於詩中提及宣德，或以
The world’s vermillion simply does not compare, 為該器瓶乃出宣窰，未料乃先帝一朝仿摹，詳見頁16。
All the rubies of the West cannot rival its colour. 另有一郎窰瓶，底同鐫此詩，原屬 M.F. Arbouin 收藏，
Place flowers in it and they blush in shame, 收錄於《International Exhibition of Chinese Art》，皇家
It is impossible to capture 藝術學院，倫敦，1953-6年，編號2312，兩度售於香港
the richness of its glaze in a painting. 蘇富比，分別為2005年5月2日，編號525及2014年10月
The Records state that sacrificial red wares were 8日，編號3653。另見於一銅紅僧帽壺例，收錄在《明代
first made in the Xuande period, 宣德官窰菁華特展圖錄》，國立故宮博物院，台北，1998
Though such wares were first fired 年，編號29。
during the Song dynasty.
始燒自明初，臻善於永宣。紅釉發色極艱，即便巧匠難
Notable for its rich red glaze and unusual stepped meiping 成，窰出多有瑕疵，色正佳器寥寥，是以景德鎮御器廠明
form, this vase is inscribed on the base with a poem composed 代遺址出土大量廢品破片。宣德以後，幾乎盡棄銅紅，
by the Qianlong Emperor that praises its attractive colouring. 紅釉器之燒造，至康熙才告大規模復興。郎廷極（1663-
A Kangxi langyao vase inscribed with the same poem, in 1715年），康熙四十四至五十一年間（1705-12年），出
the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete 任江西巡撫，督理景德鎮御窰廠事務，嘗命重調明初釉
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome 色，復燒銅紅，濃若牛血殷妍者，謂之「郎窰紅」，亮澤
Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 14, where it is noted that the 均潤，正如此瓶絕色；且有淡如朝霞欲上時，謂之「豇豆
reference to Xuande suggests that the Qianlong Emperor 紅」。
was under the impression that these vases were produced
in the Xuande period, p 16. Another langyao vase with this 尺寸與此相近之康熙郎窰紅釉梅瓶，以廣肩者較多見，如
poem, from the collection of M.F. Arbouin, included in the 此足部外撇者，甚罕，常例可參考仇焱之舊蓄一瓶，1980
International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, 年11月25日在香港蘇富比拍出，編號64，後入樂山堂收
London, 1935-6, cat. no. 2312, was sold in these rooms, 2nd 藏，圖載於《樂山堂藏瓷》，台北，2005年，圖版34
May 2005, lot 525, and again, 8th October 2014, lot 3653; 。另有一例，原屬 Kostolany 典藏，展於東方陶瓷學會
and a copper-red ‘Monk’s Cap’ ewer, was included in Special 《Exhibition of Monochrome Porcelain》，倫敦，1948
Exhibition of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming 年，編號128，後售於倫敦蘇富比1953年3月3日，編號
Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 29. 110。Evelyn Annenberg Hall 收藏另有一例，售於紐約佳
士得2006年3月29日，編號139。敏求精舍展覽且有一郎
Copper-red glazes were revived on a grand scale under the 窰梅瓶，口較短、僅微束不撇，錄於《中國陶瓷雅集》，
Kangxi Emperor after two centuries of neglect. Monochrome 香港藝術館，香港，1980年，編號107。
copper-red porcelains were perfected during the Yongle and
Xuande reigns, but the large number of discarded sherds at
the Jingdezhen kiln sites highlights the difficulties experienced
by even the most highly accomplished imperial potters of
that time to achieve satisfactory results. After the Xuande
reign, the copper pigment was therefore almost completely
abandoned. Also known as sang-de-boeuf (‘ox-blood’), langyao
was developed under Lang Tingji (1663-1715), supervisor of
the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen from 1705-12, and the term
is thought to derive from his name. Under his direction the
imperial potters attempted to recreate the lost formula of the
early Ming period and perfected the creation of comparable
deep and even copper-red glazes such as the present. It was
also manipulated to produce the delicate mottled glazes of
‘peachbloom’ wares.

Kangxi langyao meiping of this size are more commonly
modelled with a more pronounced shoulder and lacking
the stepped foot, such as one from the Edward T. Chow
and Leshangtang collections, illustrated in The Leshantang
Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 34, and sold
in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 64; another form the
Kostolany Collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society
Exhibition of Monochrome Porcelain, London, 1948, cat. no.
128, and sold in our London rooms, 3rd March 1953, lot 110;
and a third from the collection of Evelyn Annenberg-Hall, sold
at Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 139. See also a
langyao meiping with a shorter and slightly splayed mouth,
included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition An Anthology of
Chinese Ceramics, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong,
1980, cat. no. 107.

246 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比