Lot Essay
The vase is described as an amphora after the Greek shape, but it is known in Chinese as Guanyin ping as its shape compares well to the libation vase said to contain ambrosia held by many figures of Guanyin, as depicted in paintings and sculptures. It is also known in Chinese as liuye ping ('willow-leaf vase'), owing to its elegant form which resembles that of a willow leaf.
This amphora belongs to an exclusive group of eight vessel shapes that are embellished in this extremely desirable peachbloom glaze. Known as the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', the sets were especially devised in these classic forms to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table. Complete sets are extremely rare, with one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, vol. 11, pl. 28; and another from the Jingguantang Collection, sold in these Rooms, 3 November 1996, lot 557.
Similar examples of the peachbloom amphora are illustrated by S. Valenstein, Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, pl. 138; in the Meiyintang Collection Catalogue, vol. 2, p. 176, pl. 817; in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, from the Beijing Palace Museum, p. 139, pl. 122; in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng, Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, Catalogue, no. 14 and the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 8; by J. Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, no. A303; by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, pl. 55, from the Shanghai Museum; in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette exhibition Catalogue, 1984, no. 29; and by R. M. Chait in his article 'The Eight Prescribed Peach-bloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi Marks', published in Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 130-137, where he praises the elegant form of the vase.
(US$130,000-190,000)
This amphora belongs to an exclusive group of eight vessel shapes that are embellished in this extremely desirable peachbloom glaze. Known as the ba da ma or 'Eight Great Numbers', the sets were especially devised in these classic forms to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table. Complete sets are extremely rare, with one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, vol. 11, pl. 28; and another from the Jingguantang Collection, sold in these Rooms, 3 November 1996, lot 557.
Similar examples of the peachbloom amphora are illustrated by S. Valenstein, Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, pl. 138; in the Meiyintang Collection Catalogue, vol. 2, p. 176, pl. 817; in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, from the Beijing Palace Museum, p. 139, pl. 122; in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng, Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, Catalogue, no. 14 and the Special Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Monochromes, Catalogue, no. 8; by J. Ayers in the Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. III, no. A303; by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, pl. 55, from the Shanghai Museum; in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette exhibition Catalogue, 1984, no. 29; and by R. M. Chait in his article 'The Eight Prescribed Peach-bloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi Marks', published in Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 130-137, where he praises the elegant form of the vase.
(US$130,000-190,000)