Lot Essay
It is extremely rare to find a perfectly matched set of this type of jardinière and stand, and even more rare to find a pair. However, a a copper-red-glazed jardinière and stand of similar shape and comparable size are illustrated in Catalog of the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng and Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, p. 72, no. 35. Like the present jardinières and stand, the interiors are white. See, also, the teadust-glazed jardinière and stand of similar type sold in these rooms, 20 March 2001, lot 274.
Of the extant jardinières of this type and size that have been published, all, like the present pair, have four-character Yongzheng marks, and all are monochromes. This appears to follow the trend of the use of monochrome glazes during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor, when there was a concerted effort to produce new and interesting glazes, following a resurgence of interest in monochrome-glazed porcelains in the Kangxi period.
A jardinière with a Jun-type glaze in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by R. Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986. A pale blue-glazed example was sold in these rooms, 19 March 2008, lot 655, and a copper-red-glazed example is illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, no. 257. The Baur jardinière is very unusual as the sides are vertically fluted, rather than plain like all of the other examples. Just as the stands for the present jardinières are very rare in that the sides are molded with a band of chrysanthemum petals, similar to the band seen at the bottom of peachbloom-glazed 'chrysanthemum' vases of Kangxi date, such as lot 442 in this sale.
Of the extant jardinières of this type and size that have been published, all, like the present pair, have four-character Yongzheng marks, and all are monochromes. This appears to follow the trend of the use of monochrome glazes during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor, when there was a concerted effort to produce new and interesting glazes, following a resurgence of interest in monochrome-glazed porcelains in the Kangxi period.
A jardinière with a Jun-type glaze in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by R. Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986. A pale blue-glazed example was sold in these rooms, 19 March 2008, lot 655, and a copper-red-glazed example is illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, no. 257. The Baur jardinière is very unusual as the sides are vertically fluted, rather than plain like all of the other examples. Just as the stands for the present jardinières are very rare in that the sides are molded with a band of chrysanthemum petals, similar to the band seen at the bottom of peachbloom-glazed 'chrysanthemum' vases of Kangxi date, such as lot 442 in this sale.