YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

The glaze on the present vase is reminiscent of the peachbloom glaze that was first developed in the Kangxi period and used on eight vessel shapes referred to as the badama, or 'Eight Great Numbers.' See S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, nos. 231-238, p. 237, for a complete set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. While favored during the Kangxi reign, small peachbloom-glazed wares of Yongzheng date, such as the current vase, are quite rare. A meiping of similar size, covered in a glaze described as peachbloom-type, with Yongzheng mark, and of the period, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 30 May 2006, lot 1347.

Like other business tycoons turned art collectors in the late nineteenth century, such as Benjamin Altman, J.P. Morgan and William Walters, H.O. Havemeyer amassed a large collection of Asian art and ceramics, and "responded particularly to craftsmanship and form." (J. Meech et al., Splendid Legacy, The Havemeyer Collection, New York, 1993, p. 147). Peachbloom-glazed wares were so prized by American collectors at the time that a record price for one was reportedly achieved in 1886, when Baltimore collector William Walters bought a vase at the American Art Association in New York for $18,000. Havemeyer collected 36 peachbloom-glazed porcelains, at least six of which are now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (ibid., pl. 141).