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Lot Essay
The present moonflask reflects the trend of archaism during the Yongzheng period. The form of the vase is inspired by Yongle blue and white examples, which themselves were inspired by Islamic metal or glass prototype, see B. Gray in 'The Influence of Near Eastern Metalwork on Chinese Ceramics', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 18, 1940-41, p. 57 and pl. 7F. 2. The flambé glaze is inspired by Jun glaze of the Song period. The Yongzheng emperor demonstrated a strong admiration for the Jun glaze. Tang Ying, the supervisor of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, is recorded in 1731 to have sent his secretary, Wu Yaopu, to Junzhou in Henan to investigate the composition of the Jun glaze, which later led to the successful imitation of Jun glaze in Jingdezhen.
The present moonflask appears to be the only flambé-glazed example of this shape, design and size from the Yongzheng period. A similar, but larger robin’s egg-glazed moonflask (49 cm. high) is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, vol. 4, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 33. All other Yongzheng moonflasks of this shape appear to be in either blue and white decorated with ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’, such as an example (50 cm. high) in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, fig. 151; or in monochrome glazes moulded with decorations, such as a flambé-glazed example (34.5 cm. high) sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 3 December 2015, lot 1, and a Ge-type glazed example (51 cm. high) sold at Sotheby’s London, 8 November 2006, lot 173, both moulded with the ‘Eight Trigrams’ around a yinyang medallion, and another (49.8 cm. high) in Ge-type glaze moulded with ruyi clouds from the collection of William Cleverley Alexander was exhibited by S. Marchant and Son, Recent Acquisitions 2008, cover and no. 34.
The present moonflask appears to be the only flambé-glazed example of this shape, design and size from the Yongzheng period. A similar, but larger robin’s egg-glazed moonflask (49 cm. high) is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, vol. 4, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 33. All other Yongzheng moonflasks of this shape appear to be in either blue and white decorated with ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’, such as an example (50 cm. high) in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, fig. 151; or in monochrome glazes moulded with decorations, such as a flambé-glazed example (34.5 cm. high) sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 3 December 2015, lot 1, and a Ge-type glazed example (51 cm. high) sold at Sotheby’s London, 8 November 2006, lot 173, both moulded with the ‘Eight Trigrams’ around a yinyang medallion, and another (49.8 cm. high) in Ge-type glaze moulded with ruyi clouds from the collection of William Cleverley Alexander was exhibited by S. Marchant and Son, Recent Acquisitions 2008, cover and no. 34.