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拍品專文
It appears the only other recorded example of this type of vase is in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, 1987, pl. 122. The vase is identical in detail and even shares the slightly 'windswept' appearance of the upright leaves around the base.
Compare the related blue and white version where the sprays are more numerous and dispersed on two levels, the leaves around the base are overlapping and the neck has breaking waves, illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 41.
It is interesting to compare the underglaze-blue and copper-red Qianlong version in the Palace Museum illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 36, p.253, no. 231. Like the aforementioned blue and white version, the sprays are again dispersed on two levels, the leaves around the base overlapping and the copper-red much flatter in its tonality. Like the fruit and flowers, the lingzhi fungus is also painted in copper-red.
For examples of the early Ming prototype, cf. Ayers and Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol. II, p. 430, col. pl. 624. The shape of the meiping has evolved from a more ovoid cylindrical vase with a relatively narrow shoulder and neck to a more curvaceous body with broad shoulder and broad mouth.
While underglaze cobalt blue and underglaze copper-red were occasionally used on the same porcelain piece in the Yuan dynasty, such pieces were very rare and the use of one or other of the colours very limited. A few examples decorated with both underglaze colours were made in the early 15th century, but the ceramic decorators at that time were aiming for a deep red to contrast with the blue. Since the use of both underglaze red and underglaze blue was a difficuilt technique it was rarely attempted in the middle and later Ming. However under the patronage of the Kongxi emperor the technique was revived at the imperial kilns. Such pieces from the late 17th and early 18th century were distinguished by a much softer red than their 15th century predecessors. By the Yongzheng reign the new version of the technique was perfected and the current vase is a magnificent testament to its success.
Compare the related blue and white version where the sprays are more numerous and dispersed on two levels, the leaves around the base are overlapping and the neck has breaking waves, illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 41.
It is interesting to compare the underglaze-blue and copper-red Qianlong version in the Palace Museum illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 36, p.253, no. 231. Like the aforementioned blue and white version, the sprays are again dispersed on two levels, the leaves around the base overlapping and the copper-red much flatter in its tonality. Like the fruit and flowers, the lingzhi fungus is also painted in copper-red.
For examples of the early Ming prototype, cf. Ayers and Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol. II, p. 430, col. pl. 624. The shape of the meiping has evolved from a more ovoid cylindrical vase with a relatively narrow shoulder and neck to a more curvaceous body with broad shoulder and broad mouth.
While underglaze cobalt blue and underglaze copper-red were occasionally used on the same porcelain piece in the Yuan dynasty, such pieces were very rare and the use of one or other of the colours very limited. A few examples decorated with both underglaze colours were made in the early 15th century, but the ceramic decorators at that time were aiming for a deep red to contrast with the blue. Since the use of both underglaze red and underglaze blue was a difficuilt technique it was rarely attempted in the middle and later Ming. However under the patronage of the Kongxi emperor the technique was revived at the imperial kilns. Such pieces from the late 17th and early 18th century were distinguished by a much softer red than their 15th century predecessors. By the Yongzheng reign the new version of the technique was perfected and the current vase is a magnificent testament to its success.