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Lot Essay
This rare and beautiful brush washer with Ru-type glaze is one of the most refined examples of Qianlong archaism. Northern Song Ru wares were greatly prized by the Qing emperors, who had them imitated by the potters at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. In this case, the potters have made every effort faithfully to reproduce not only the form and glaze of the original Northern Song Ru ware, but also aspects of its manufacture. The latter feature is apparent in the way the Qianlong washer has been fired. The foot and base are fully glazed and the vessel has been fired standing on seven tiny spurs, which have left small neat marks on the base. Firing on small spurs was one of the characteristics of Northern Song Ru open wares.
This Qianlong washer relates closely in form and size to a Northern Song Ru ware vessel in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Ju Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1961, p. 42, pls. 12a & b. However, the Qing dynasty potters were not prepared to take such great risks as their Song counterparts. The Northern Song vessel has a flat base with no foot ring, and was fired on only five spurs. The Qing potters incorporated a hidden foot for added stability, and used seven spurs to reduce the possibility of warping. There is an additional feature on the exterior of the Qianlong vessel that does not appear on the Taiwan Northern Song washer. A fine 'bow-string' line has been applied to the exterior wall. It is quite possible that such 'bow-string' lines did appear on other Song Ru ware washers that have not been preserved. These lines were often added to Song Ru and Guan ware vessels that were made in forms taken from ancient bronzes. The lines represented the surface decoration on the original bronze. Such 'bow-string' lines can be seen, for example, on the Ru ware lian censer in the Percival David Foundation illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, et al., in The Discovery of Ru Kiln - A Famous Song-ware Kiln of China, Hong Kong, 1991, p. 59, pl. 59.
Ru wares have always been greatly admired in China, and as early as the fifteenth century potters at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen were charged with the task of reproducing their soft bluish glazes on porcelain. In 1984 an alms bowl with Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande strata at the imperial kilns. See 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, and other examples have since been recovered from the same site. None of the Xuande Ru-type porcelains so far discovered, however, has adhered as closely to an original Northern Song form as the current Qianlong piece.
Both the Yongzheng and the Qianlong emperors commanded porcelains to be made with Ru-type glazes. Several examples from the Yongzheng reign have been preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. See Catalogue of A Special Exhibition of Ch'ing-Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, pp. 129-31, nos. 77-79. The National Palace Museum also has preserved in its collection porcelains from the Qianlong reign with Ru-type glazes. See ibid., pp. 143-5, nos. 87 and 88. For Qianlong porcelains with Ru-type glazes preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 37 - Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 236-39, nos. 214-7.
This Qianlong washer relates closely in form and size to a Northern Song Ru ware vessel in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Ju Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1961, p. 42, pls. 12a & b. However, the Qing dynasty potters were not prepared to take such great risks as their Song counterparts. The Northern Song vessel has a flat base with no foot ring, and was fired on only five spurs. The Qing potters incorporated a hidden foot for added stability, and used seven spurs to reduce the possibility of warping. There is an additional feature on the exterior of the Qianlong vessel that does not appear on the Taiwan Northern Song washer. A fine 'bow-string' line has been applied to the exterior wall. It is quite possible that such 'bow-string' lines did appear on other Song Ru ware washers that have not been preserved. These lines were often added to Song Ru and Guan ware vessels that were made in forms taken from ancient bronzes. The lines represented the surface decoration on the original bronze. Such 'bow-string' lines can be seen, for example, on the Ru ware lian censer in the Percival David Foundation illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, et al., in The Discovery of Ru Kiln - A Famous Song-ware Kiln of China, Hong Kong, 1991, p. 59, pl. 59.
Ru wares have always been greatly admired in China, and as early as the fifteenth century potters at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen were charged with the task of reproducing their soft bluish glazes on porcelain. In 1984 an alms bowl with Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande strata at the imperial kilns. See 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, and other examples have since been recovered from the same site. None of the Xuande Ru-type porcelains so far discovered, however, has adhered as closely to an original Northern Song form as the current Qianlong piece.
Both the Yongzheng and the Qianlong emperors commanded porcelains to be made with Ru-type glazes. Several examples from the Yongzheng reign have been preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. See Catalogue of A Special Exhibition of Ch'ing-Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, pp. 129-31, nos. 77-79. The National Palace Museum also has preserved in its collection porcelains from the Qianlong reign with Ru-type glazes. See ibid., pp. 143-5, nos. 87 and 88. For Qianlong porcelains with Ru-type glazes preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 37 - Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 236-39, nos. 214-7.