XUANDE INCISED SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1426-1435)

Monochrome blue porcelains of the Xuande reign are very rare, despite the fact that from early in the Hongwu reign (AD 1370) it was decreed that ceramic wares should be used for official sacrifices at the Imperial altars, and blue was the prescribed colour for ritual vessels at the Tiantan, the Altar of Heaven. This high-firing cobalt blue, along with the copper red and 'sweet' white, was regarded as one of the three great glaze colours of the Xuande reign by connoisseurs of the Qianlong period (1736-95). The Xuande monochrome cobalt blue is especially fine with a richness of colour due not only to the quality of the cobalt but also to the thickness with which the glaze was applied.