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Lot Essay
The hall mark Jurentang, 'Hall of Dwelling in Benevolence', belonged to Yuan Shikai (1859-1916). He became president of the new Republic in 1912 and took up residence in the Jurentang, which he renamed from the original Haiyantang, in the Forbidden City. During his presidency, Yuan established himself as the Emperor and held the very short-lived Hongxian reign in 1916, which lasted for only 83 days.
According to Geng Baochang, Yuan ordered a group of monochrome porcelains in the early days of his reign. He allegedly had intended for this group to be made in imitation of the exquisite Ru ware of the Song dynasty, but eventually demanded they be made after the Ru-type celadon-glazed wares of the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, hoping it would bode well for his dynasty.
Examples of Jurentang-marked monochrome porcelain appear to be very rare, although a few examples can be found in museum and private collection. A pair of sky-blue-glazed gu-form vases with taotie-mask decoration and underglaze-blue Jurentang marks is in the collection of the Tianjin Museum and illustrated in Tianjin bo wu guan cang ci, Tianjin, 2012, no. 206. Another sky-blue-glazed beaker with archaistic decoration, and also with an underglaze-blue Jurentang mark, is in the collection of Mark Chou and illustrated by M. Chou in A Discourse on Hong Hsien Porcelain, Niles, Illinois, 1987, p. 46.
According to Geng Baochang, Yuan ordered a group of monochrome porcelains in the early days of his reign. He allegedly had intended for this group to be made in imitation of the exquisite Ru ware of the Song dynasty, but eventually demanded they be made after the Ru-type celadon-glazed wares of the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, hoping it would bode well for his dynasty.
Examples of Jurentang-marked monochrome porcelain appear to be very rare, although a few examples can be found in museum and private collection. A pair of sky-blue-glazed gu-form vases with taotie-mask decoration and underglaze-blue Jurentang marks is in the collection of the Tianjin Museum and illustrated in Tianjin bo wu guan cang ci, Tianjin, 2012, no. 206. Another sky-blue-glazed beaker with archaistic decoration, and also with an underglaze-blue Jurentang mark, is in the collection of Mark Chou and illustrated by M. Chou in A Discourse on Hong Hsien Porcelain, Niles, Illinois, 1987, p. 46.