.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Water pots of this form are known as taibai zun, after the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, who is often depicted leaning against a large wine jar of similar form. They are also known as jizhao zun because their shape resembles chicken coops that are woven with small openings at the top through which the chicks are fed.
This water pot represents one of the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', a group of eight specific vessels covered in a distinctive peachbloom glaze. The glaze was developed during the Kangxi period, and is characterized by blushes of red against a soft pink base color, sometimes with clear greenish or greyish mottled areas, giving an impression of delicate blushing skin or fruit ripening in the sun. This ‘blushing’ or ‘peachbloom’ effect was very complex to produce, requiring colorants to be blown onto a surface covered with transparent glaze, which was then applied with an additional layer of transparent glaze before being fired at high temperature. The present water pot is a masterful example of the peachbloom glaze, with its even, vibrant color.
A peachbloom water pot, also featuring a very vibrant raspberry-toned glaze, formerly in the collections of Emily Trevor and John B. Trevor, Jr., was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3301. Another from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art was sold at Christie's New York, 15 September 2016, lot 915.
This water pot represents one of the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', a group of eight specific vessels covered in a distinctive peachbloom glaze. The glaze was developed during the Kangxi period, and is characterized by blushes of red against a soft pink base color, sometimes with clear greenish or greyish mottled areas, giving an impression of delicate blushing skin or fruit ripening in the sun. This ‘blushing’ or ‘peachbloom’ effect was very complex to produce, requiring colorants to be blown onto a surface covered with transparent glaze, which was then applied with an additional layer of transparent glaze before being fired at high temperature. The present water pot is a masterful example of the peachbloom glaze, with its even, vibrant color.
A peachbloom water pot, also featuring a very vibrant raspberry-toned glaze, formerly in the collections of Emily Trevor and John B. Trevor, Jr., was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3301. Another from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art was sold at Christie's New York, 15 September 2016, lot 915.