Lot Essay
The ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers' is among the most sophisticated and distinguished of all Imperial porcelains. The extremely desirable peachbloom glaze is found exclusively on the eight shapes that make up the set and was not known on other forms, although certain examples are sometimes unaccountably designated as such. The sets themselves were especially devised in these classic forms to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table.
Although certain individual shapes from the set have changed hands, often for fabulous sums, complete sets of the ba da ma are extremely rare. Only one other complete set assembled variously from the Vogel, Altman, Harkness and Havemeyer Collections, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, appears to be pubished, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 12, col. pl. 47; and again by Beurdeley and Raindre, Qing Porcelain, p. 150, no. 212.
In his article 'The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi Marks', published in Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 130-137, R.M. Chait discusses the eight shapes in his order of their importance.
After four decades of research, he knew of only five examples of the panlong zun -the rarest of all eight shapes, and noted that all of these were damaged. He suggested that it ranks highest in importance since the dragon denotes Imperial or palace usage.
Probably as rare, the sanxian zun derives its name from the rings around the neck which recall the strings used on Chinese musical instruments. It is also called 'turnip-shaped vase', laifu zun, by Chinese scholars after the custom of naming porcelain forms after vegetables. Perhaps its most amusing title is the 'Morgan shape vase' after the American collector who paid a legendary sum for an example in the mid 19th century. It sold after her death in 1886 for US$18,000. Again, examples of these in perfect condition are extremely rare.
The third vase is variously called a juban zun or heban zun according to whether the petals around the base are perceived to be modelled after a chrysanthemum or lotus flower.
The fourth vase is described as an amphora in the West after a Greek shape, but is known as a guanyin ping by Chinese collectors since its shape compares to the lustration vase said to contain ambrosia held by figures of Guanyin depicted in bronzes, paintings and sculpture. It is also known in Chinese as liuye ping, 'willow-leaf vase', owing to its shape. It is the only one of the eight pieces to have the nianhao written in two vertical lines. Chait opined op. cit., p. 136-37, that 'This elegant form defies description because the pen cannot convey any idea of the subtle rhythm of line, mass and balance,' adding, 'This classic form has become through the passing years one of the most desired and sought for the world over by collectors of Ch'ing porcelains.'
The next form acquired the sobriquet taibo zun from its similarity with the wine jar found beside the tipsy Li Taibo. It was also known as jichao zun because its shape resembles basketware chicken coops which also have small openings at the top through which the chicks are fed. The vessel contained water and the narrow neck would remove surplus water and reshape the writer's brush into the desired point. The shape is unique to the Kangxi period and also occurs under a white glaze.
Chait sites only four known examples of the pingguo zun or 'apple-shaped vase' all in various museum collections and notes this extremely rare form is practical in the exercise of writing with a brush.
The tangle xi or 'gong-shaped washer' is perhaps the most common of the surviving forms, which is also known as a 'shallow coup' or 'writer's brush bath'. The broad mouth gives plenty of room for the writer to wash his brush, but Chait notes that excessive tapping of the brushes' metal ferrules on its rim have caused many examples to be cracked. The shape occurs also under a clair-de-lune glaze in the Kangxi period.
The yinse he is also known as a 'seal colour box' or 'vermillion box' since some examples still contain traces of ink-paste for which they were made.
Unlike most other Qing Imperial porcelains, the Eight Great Objects have unencircled nianhao written in regular script. This is written in three columns of two characters horizontally, with the exception of the guanyin ping, on which it is written in two columns of three characters vertically.
The peachbloom glaze is also known as 'apple red', 'beauty's blush', 'baby's face', 'bean red' (after the kidney bean cultivated around China) or 'drunken beauty', meirenzui. Dominated by blushes of red merging into a soft pink base colour with a pale shade of pervading purple, it is frequently dotted with fine 'moss green' or yellow-brown spots and larger patches on a pinkish-red ground. It gives the impression of delicate blushing skin or ripening fruit in the sun.
Peachbloom has long since been one of the most desired monochromes among Oriental and Occidental collectors. In his introduction to the exhibition of Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China held in Shanghai in 1908, A.W. Bahr wrote of peachbloom that 'No Chinese collector can boast of a porcelain collection if it does not include at least one specimen of this class.' Similarly, S.W. Bushell noted in Oriental Ceramic Art, 1899, p. 307 that 'The Chinese prize the subdued beauty of this glaze above all others for the decoration of their writing tables'. American collectors have devoted themselves to acquiring examples at any price, the most famous example being the aforementioned Mrs Mary J Morgan, and two other similar vases ere reputedly purchased by Mrs. Christian Holmes for about US$50,000 (cf. Chait op. cit., p. 132).
Technically, the glaze was an invention of the Kangxi period at Jingdezhen. Considered the most sophisticated variant type of the copper-red glaze, it was probably first produced by accident then deliberately recreated. Recent research suggests that two or possibly three stages were involved and the final result is achieved by manipulating copper and its oxides in a firing process that involves both reduction and oxidising atmospheres which would account for the red and green tones inherent in the peachbloom glaze. In 'The Evolution of Chinese Copper Red', Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Monograph Series, no. 3, pp. 11ff., Nigel Wood suggests that peachbloom is not one glaze but a copper-lime pigment sandwiched between two clear glazes; the pigment probably applied by spraying. He continues by describing the fortuitous process that takes place during the firing. The copper that dissolved into the glaze from the pigment would supply the copper red colour. Thicker areas of pigment caused by uneven spraying may have produced copper rich areas that soaked through the overglaze sometimes re-oxidising as the greenish specks. In some cases the glaze itself re-oxidised, resulting in the attractive areas of translucent green. Whatever the exact technique, it is evident that controlling the glaze was extremely difficult, which partly explains why it is confined to such small objects. Margaret Medley noted in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 6, p. 165, that 'Most of the Peachbloom examples are surprisingly heavy in relation to their size and the body material is unusually dense. The foot ring is always very neatly cut and the glaze is carefully controlled so that it does not run down below a predetermined line.'
The five examples of the panlong zun known to Chait, included a vase from the Kneeland Collection, sold in New York, 31 May 1994, lot 374; one from a Chinese private collection in New York; one from the Altman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28A and again by Valenstein in a Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, pl. 132 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27; one from the Walters Collection in Baltimore, illustrated by Bushell in Oriental Ceramic Art, fig. 209; and Chait's own example illustrated in loc.cit, p. 132. Also published since then is an example sold in New York, 6 December 1989, lot 188A; a vase included in the Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Los Angeles County Museum, 1952, Catalogue, no. 349; and the present example.
Similar examples of sanxian zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op.cit, pl. 132 and again in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27. Another from the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated by Chait, op. cit., p. 132, where he also illustrates the Morgan vase; others are illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 137, col. pl. 120, from the Beijing Palace Museum; in the Min Chiu Society Exhibition of Monochrome Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1977, Catalogue no. 10; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 9, fig. 121. Two other examples from the Kneeland Collection were sold in New York, 1 June 1994, lot 372 (the present example) and lot 373.
Similar examples of juban zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit, pl. 138, Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. An example from the Meiyintang Collection is illustrated in the Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 177, pl. 818; another from the Beijing Palace Museum in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 138, pl. 121; another from the Percival David Foundation, in Oriental Ceramics, vol. 6, col. pl. 52; two in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, pl. 51, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; from the Baur Collection by Ayers in the Catalogue, vol. III, no. A 302; in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, p. 270, fig. 115, from the Chang Foundation. Examples of the same form under a pale Longquan-type celadon glaze are illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, col. pl.32 and Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 9, col. pl. 22, from the Freer Gallery of Art.
Similar examples of liuye ping are illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in the Meiyintang Collection Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 176, col. pl. 817; in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, from the Beijing Palace Museum, p. 139, col. pl. 122; in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Catalogue, no. 14 and the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 8; by Chait, op. cit., p. 134; by Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, no. A 303; by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, pl. 55, from the Shanghai Museum. A vase from the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, 1984, Catalogue, no. 29.
Similar examples of taibo zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in Chinese Porcelain in the Idemitsu Collection, p. 223; in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Dynasty Monochromes in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, vol. I, pl. 55, also included in the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 3; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 5, pl. 230, from the British Museum; in idem., vol. 6, col. pl. 51, from the Percival David Foundation; in the Meiyintang Collection, Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 179, pl. 821; by Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, nos. A 305, A 310, A 313-A 316; in Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Catalogue, no. 52; in The Wonders of the Potters Palette, Catalogue, pl. 30; in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 142, col. pl. 125, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; in the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 3, from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan; and in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, vol. I, no. 130.
Similar examples of pingguo zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Another example is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pls. 24 and 25, from the Percival David Foundation.
Similar examples of tangle xi are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138, no. 6; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated by Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, pl. 7, fig. 1; by Beurdeley, Qing Porcelain, pl. 98; by Ayers in the Baur Collection, Catalogue, vol. III, nos. A 306, A 309; in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, no. 27; in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Dynasty Monochromes in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, no. B 582; in Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Catalogue, no. 53; in the Meiyintang Collection, Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 179, pl. 820; and in the S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, no. 129.
Similar examples of yinse he are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 141, col. pl. 124, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; in the Special Exhibition of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Porcelain, Catalogue, no. 11, from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, also included in the Special Exhibition of Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 7.
(US$600,000-700,000)
Although certain individual shapes from the set have changed hands, often for fabulous sums, complete sets of the ba da ma are extremely rare. Only one other complete set assembled variously from the Vogel, Altman, Harkness and Havemeyer Collections, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, appears to be pubished, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 12, col. pl. 47; and again by Beurdeley and Raindre, Qing Porcelain, p. 150, no. 212.
In his article 'The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi Marks', published in Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 130-137, R.M. Chait discusses the eight shapes in his order of their importance.
After four decades of research, he knew of only five examples of the panlong zun -the rarest of all eight shapes, and noted that all of these were damaged. He suggested that it ranks highest in importance since the dragon denotes Imperial or palace usage.
Probably as rare, the sanxian zun derives its name from the rings around the neck which recall the strings used on Chinese musical instruments. It is also called 'turnip-shaped vase', laifu zun, by Chinese scholars after the custom of naming porcelain forms after vegetables. Perhaps its most amusing title is the 'Morgan shape vase' after the American collector who paid a legendary sum for an example in the mid 19th century. It sold after her death in 1886 for US$18,000. Again, examples of these in perfect condition are extremely rare.
The third vase is variously called a juban zun or heban zun according to whether the petals around the base are perceived to be modelled after a chrysanthemum or lotus flower.
The fourth vase is described as an amphora in the West after a Greek shape, but is known as a guanyin ping by Chinese collectors since its shape compares to the lustration vase said to contain ambrosia held by figures of Guanyin depicted in bronzes, paintings and sculpture. It is also known in Chinese as liuye ping, 'willow-leaf vase', owing to its shape. It is the only one of the eight pieces to have the nianhao written in two vertical lines. Chait opined op. cit., p. 136-37, that 'This elegant form defies description because the pen cannot convey any idea of the subtle rhythm of line, mass and balance,' adding, 'This classic form has become through the passing years one of the most desired and sought for the world over by collectors of Ch'ing porcelains.'
The next form acquired the sobriquet taibo zun from its similarity with the wine jar found beside the tipsy Li Taibo. It was also known as jichao zun because its shape resembles basketware chicken coops which also have small openings at the top through which the chicks are fed. The vessel contained water and the narrow neck would remove surplus water and reshape the writer's brush into the desired point. The shape is unique to the Kangxi period and also occurs under a white glaze.
Chait sites only four known examples of the pingguo zun or 'apple-shaped vase' all in various museum collections and notes this extremely rare form is practical in the exercise of writing with a brush.
The tangle xi or 'gong-shaped washer' is perhaps the most common of the surviving forms, which is also known as a 'shallow coup' or 'writer's brush bath'. The broad mouth gives plenty of room for the writer to wash his brush, but Chait notes that excessive tapping of the brushes' metal ferrules on its rim have caused many examples to be cracked. The shape occurs also under a clair-de-lune glaze in the Kangxi period.
The yinse he is also known as a 'seal colour box' or 'vermillion box' since some examples still contain traces of ink-paste for which they were made.
Unlike most other Qing Imperial porcelains, the Eight Great Objects have unencircled nianhao written in regular script. This is written in three columns of two characters horizontally, with the exception of the guanyin ping, on which it is written in two columns of three characters vertically.
The peachbloom glaze is also known as 'apple red', 'beauty's blush', 'baby's face', 'bean red' (after the kidney bean cultivated around China) or 'drunken beauty', meirenzui. Dominated by blushes of red merging into a soft pink base colour with a pale shade of pervading purple, it is frequently dotted with fine 'moss green' or yellow-brown spots and larger patches on a pinkish-red ground. It gives the impression of delicate blushing skin or ripening fruit in the sun.
Peachbloom has long since been one of the most desired monochromes among Oriental and Occidental collectors. In his introduction to the exhibition of Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China held in Shanghai in 1908, A.W. Bahr wrote of peachbloom that 'No Chinese collector can boast of a porcelain collection if it does not include at least one specimen of this class.' Similarly, S.W. Bushell noted in Oriental Ceramic Art, 1899, p. 307 that 'The Chinese prize the subdued beauty of this glaze above all others for the decoration of their writing tables'. American collectors have devoted themselves to acquiring examples at any price, the most famous example being the aforementioned Mrs Mary J Morgan, and two other similar vases ere reputedly purchased by Mrs. Christian Holmes for about US$50,000 (cf. Chait op. cit., p. 132).
Technically, the glaze was an invention of the Kangxi period at Jingdezhen. Considered the most sophisticated variant type of the copper-red glaze, it was probably first produced by accident then deliberately recreated. Recent research suggests that two or possibly three stages were involved and the final result is achieved by manipulating copper and its oxides in a firing process that involves both reduction and oxidising atmospheres which would account for the red and green tones inherent in the peachbloom glaze. In 'The Evolution of Chinese Copper Red', Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art Monograph Series, no. 3, pp. 11ff., Nigel Wood suggests that peachbloom is not one glaze but a copper-lime pigment sandwiched between two clear glazes; the pigment probably applied by spraying. He continues by describing the fortuitous process that takes place during the firing. The copper that dissolved into the glaze from the pigment would supply the copper red colour. Thicker areas of pigment caused by uneven spraying may have produced copper rich areas that soaked through the overglaze sometimes re-oxidising as the greenish specks. In some cases the glaze itself re-oxidised, resulting in the attractive areas of translucent green. Whatever the exact technique, it is evident that controlling the glaze was extremely difficult, which partly explains why it is confined to such small objects. Margaret Medley noted in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 6, p. 165, that 'Most of the Peachbloom examples are surprisingly heavy in relation to their size and the body material is unusually dense. The foot ring is always very neatly cut and the glaze is carefully controlled so that it does not run down below a predetermined line.'
The five examples of the panlong zun known to Chait, included a vase from the Kneeland Collection, sold in New York, 31 May 1994, lot 374; one from a Chinese private collection in New York; one from the Altman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28A and again by Valenstein in a Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, pl. 132 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27; one from the Walters Collection in Baltimore, illustrated by Bushell in Oriental Ceramic Art, fig. 209; and Chait's own example illustrated in loc.cit, p. 132. Also published since then is an example sold in New York, 6 December 1989, lot 188A; a vase included in the Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Los Angeles County Museum, 1952, Catalogue, no. 349; and the present example.
Similar examples of sanxian zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op.cit, pl. 132 and again in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27. Another from the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated by Chait, op. cit., p. 132, where he also illustrates the Morgan vase; others are illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 137, col. pl. 120, from the Beijing Palace Museum; in the Min Chiu Society Exhibition of Monochrome Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1977, Catalogue no. 10; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 9, fig. 121. Two other examples from the Kneeland Collection were sold in New York, 1 June 1994, lot 372 (the present example) and lot 373.
Similar examples of juban zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit, pl. 138, Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, fig. 27, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. An example from the Meiyintang Collection is illustrated in the Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 177, pl. 818; another from the Beijing Palace Museum in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 138, pl. 121; another from the Percival David Foundation, in Oriental Ceramics, vol. 6, col. pl. 52; two in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, pl. 51, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; from the Baur Collection by Ayers in the Catalogue, vol. III, no. A 302; in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, p. 270, fig. 115, from the Chang Foundation. Examples of the same form under a pale Longquan-type celadon glaze are illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, col. pl.32 and Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 9, col. pl. 22, from the Freer Gallery of Art.
Similar examples of liuye ping are illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in the Meiyintang Collection Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 176, col. pl. 817; in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, from the Beijing Palace Museum, p. 139, col. pl. 122; in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Catalogue, no. 14 and the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 8; by Chait, op. cit., p. 134; by Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, no. A 303; by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, pl. 55, from the Shanghai Museum. A vase from the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, 1984, Catalogue, no. 29.
Similar examples of taibo zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28 and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, pp. 34-35, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in Chinese Porcelain in the Idemitsu Collection, p. 223; in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Dynasty Monochromes in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, vol. I, pl. 55, also included in the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 3; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 5, pl. 230, from the British Museum; in idem., vol. 6, col. pl. 51, from the Percival David Foundation; in the Meiyintang Collection, Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 179, pl. 821; by Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, nos. A 305, A 310, A 313-A 316; in Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Catalogue, no. 52; in The Wonders of the Potters Palette, Catalogue, pl. 30; in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 142, col. pl. 125, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; in the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 3, from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan; and in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, vol. I, no. 130.
Similar examples of pingguo zun are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Another example is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pls. 24 and 25, from the Percival David Foundation.
Similar examples of tangle xi are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138, no. 6; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated by Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, pl. 7, fig. 1; by Beurdeley, Qing Porcelain, pl. 98; by Ayers in the Baur Collection, Catalogue, vol. III, nos. A 306, A 309; in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, no. 27; in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Dynasty Monochromes in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, no. B 582; in Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Catalogue, no. 53; in the Meiyintang Collection, Catalogue, Volume Two, p. 179, pl. 820; and in the S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, no. 129.
Similar examples of yinse he are illustrated by Valenstein, op. cit., pl. 138; in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 11, col. pl. 28; and Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, col. pl. 254, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Other examples are illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 141, col. pl. 124, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; in the Special Exhibition of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Porcelain, Catalogue, no. 11, from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, also included in the Special Exhibition of Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 7.
(US$600,000-700,000)