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Lot Essay
Compare a similar example with this cobalt blue glaze included in the exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1984, no. 85. A smaller cobalt blue bottle vase with a less globular body is in the Baur Collection, Geneva (illustrated by J. Ayers and M. Sato in Ceramic Art of the World - Volume 15 - Ch'ing Dynasty, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1983, p. 199, no. 272).
The rich cobalt blue seen on the current vase is sometimes referred to as 'sacrificial blue'. This name derives from the use of vessels bearing this colour glaze during sacrifices at the Imperial Altar of Heaven. In AD 1369 the first Ming dynasty emperor Hongwu issued an edict declaring that the vessels used on the Imperial altars should henceforth be made of porcelain. Each altar was associated with a specific colour of porcelain, and in addition to blue being used on the Altar of Heaven, red was used on the Altar of the Sun, yellow on the Altar of Earth, and white on the Altar of the Moon.
The rich cobalt blue seen on the current vase is sometimes referred to as 'sacrificial blue'. This name derives from the use of vessels bearing this colour glaze during sacrifices at the Imperial Altar of Heaven. In AD 1369 the first Ming dynasty emperor Hongwu issued an edict declaring that the vessels used on the Imperial altars should henceforth be made of porcelain. Each altar was associated with a specific colour of porcelain, and in addition to blue being used on the Altar of Heaven, red was used on the Altar of the Sun, yellow on the Altar of Earth, and white on the Altar of the Moon.