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Lot Essay
Perfect Imperial Archaism – A Rare Yongzheng Ge-Type Vase
Rosemary Scott
Independent scholar
Visiting ceramics research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing
The reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723-35) is renowned for the exceptional elegance of the ceramics made for imperial use. It is also known for the emperor’s passion for antiques and his desire to have ceramics made in close imitation of the revered wares of the Song dynasty. The current vase with Ge-type glaze perfectly exemplifies fine imperial ceramics of this type.
The emperor’s admiration for crackle-glazed ceramics of the Song dynasty, such as Guan, Ge and Ru wares, is reflected in a painting created by the Jesuit court artist Lang Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766) in the first year of the Yongzheng reign (AD 1723). The painting, entitled Assembled Blessings, depicts a variety of auspicious plants arranged in a crackle-glazed vase, which may be an original Song dynasty vessel or may be a Qing vessel inspired by Song wares (see National Palace Museum, New Visons at the Ch’ing Court – Giuseppe Castiglione and Western-Style Trends, Taipei, 2007, pp. 50-51, no. 11). (Fig. 1) While some of the Qing dynasty imperial ceramics made with Song-type glazes do not have Song shapes, both the vase in the Lang Shining painting and the current vase were made in Song forms to complement their Song-style crackled glazes.
A Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) Guan vase of smaller size but similar shape, apart from a slightly more dished mouth, to the current Yongzheng vessel is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, London 2004, p. 87, pls. 87 & 87a), having been given to the museum in 1967 by Sir Alan Barlow (1881-1968). A somewhat larger Song vase of the same form, but with a mouth similar to the current Yongzheng vessel, was excavated from the Guan ware Laohudong kiln site (see Du Zhengxian (ed.), Hangzhou Laohudong yaozhi ciqi jingxuan, Beijing, 2002, p. 40, no. 15). The larger excavated vase would originally have had loop and ring handles applied to the sides in imitation of bronze vessels. This may suggest the origin of the shape. Perhaps the extant Southern Song dynasty crackle-glazed vessel which is closest to the current vase is another excavated Song dynasty Guan vase from the Laohudong kiln site (illustrated ibid., p. 51, no. 26). This vase Guan vase shares with the current Yongzheng Ge-type vessel the somewhat more compressed body and subtly-rendered mouth ring.
While amongst extant Song dynasty wares, it is those of Southern Song Guan type – noted above – that are closest to the current Yongzheng vase, similarities can also be seen in relation to vases of the Northern Song period (960-1126), made at the Ru ware kilns at Qingliangsi, Baofengxian, Henan province. An early 12th century Ru ware vase with somewhat narrower, elongated, neck, but also with pear-shaped body and standing on a slightly splayed foot, was excavated at Qingliangsi in 1987 (illustrated in University of Hong Kong, University Museum and Art Gallery, Ceramic Finds from Henan, Hong Kong, 1997, pp. 56-7, no. 26). Some links can also be seen with fine celadons from the Northern Song Yaozhou kilns at Huangbaozhen in Tongchuanxian in Shaanxi province, such as the 11th-12th century Yaozhou vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, op. cit., p. 53, pl. 47, although the Yaozhou vessel has an everted mouth rim.
A small number of fine Kangxi vases were made in a similar shape to the current Yongzheng vase, albeit that their bodies tend to be somewhat more compressed and their mouths were of simple form. These Kangxi vases include a copper-red-glazed vessel with two holes in its foot ring, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 37, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 16-17, no. 14), and a pale blue Kangxi vase in the same collection (illustrated ibid., p. 95, no. 88).
The shape of the current vase seems to have been especially appreciated by the Yongzheng Emperor as the form, with sinuous profile and subtle mouth ring, can be seen in a number of extant examples with different glazes. Amongst the latter are two with archaistic brown speckled glazes and impressed Yongzheng marks in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, which are illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 37, op. cit., p. 278, no. 254, and pp. 280-1, no. 256. (Fig. 2) Another vase of this form with rich cobalt blue glaze, and underglaze blue Yongzheng mark, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Harmony and Integrity – The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, Taipei, 2009, p. 219, no. II-45). (Fig. 3)
The Yongzheng emperor’s desire for Song-type glazes to be applied to vases of this form can be seen not only in vases like the current example, which has a Ge-type glaze, but in a number of surviving Yongzheng vessels with Jun-type glazes. A vase of this form with copper-sprayed Jun-type glaze and an impressed Yongzheng mark was sold by Christie’s New York, 29 March 2006, lot 463. (Fig. 4) Another similar Yongzheng-marked Jun-glazed vase was sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 230 and illustrated in Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, no. 141. A similar Jun-type vase of this form is in the Baur Collection (illustrated by John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, no. 263). The Baur vase does not bear a Yongzheng mark, but instead is inscribed with the characters Xuanhe, a reference to the Xuanhe (AD 1119-1125) reign period of the Northern Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126). It is probable that the Baur vase dates to the Yongzheng reign, and its Xuanhe mark is a reminder of the elevated aesthetic tastes and admiration for antiquities for which the Huizong Emperor was known, and the fact that part of his collection was recorded in the imperially commissioned catalogue. Xuanhe bogu tulu.
Interestingly, while this form is less often found amongst the ceramics made for the Qianlong Emperor, the Zhuyuetang Collection contains a Qianlong vase, of similar shape to the current vessel, which has been decorated with a Song-style Guan-type glaze (see Shimmering Colours – Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods – The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 169, no. 98).
During a significant part of the Yongzheng reign supervision of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen was undertaken by the famous ceramicist Tang Ying (1682-1756). Tang Ying had entered the Imperial Household Department as a sixteen-year-old, serving as a page in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), but in the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign he was promoted to the rank of Vice Director. In 1728 he was sent to Jingdezhen, initially as an assistant to Nian Xiyao (1671-1738), and then taking on the role of supervisor. Tang Ying was both hard-working and became expert in all aspects of ceramic production; thus, some of the finest Qing dynasty ceramics were made during his tenure. The current vase was almost certainly one of those. The crackle-glazes of Song dynasty wares – Guan, Ge and Ru – would have been the most challenging for the Qing potters to reproduce, and the glaze on the current Yongzheng vase is exceptionally successful.
In 1735 – the last year of the Yongzheng reign – Tang Ying composed the Taocheng jishi bei ji (Commemorative stele on ceramic production), which provides a wealth of information on ceramic production at the Imperial kilns and lists some fifty-seven of their products. Peter Lam has translated one of those listings this as: ‘Ge glazes with iron body, including millet colour and pale green, copied from ancient pieces sent from the Imperial Palace.’ (Peter Y. K. Lam, ‘Three Chinese Bannermen and their Monochromes’ in Shimmering Colours – Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 44). This indicates that the emperor was prepared to send precious antique vessels hundreds of miles from Beijing to Jingdezhen in order to ensure that items, such as the current vessel, were accurate reflections of their revered Song dynasty antecedents. In the case of this Ge-type vase, the emperor’s hope that the potters at the Qing Imperial kilns could recreate the elegant aesthetic of Song dynasty wares was fully realised.
Rosemary Scott
Independent scholar
Visiting ceramics research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing
The reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723-35) is renowned for the exceptional elegance of the ceramics made for imperial use. It is also known for the emperor’s passion for antiques and his desire to have ceramics made in close imitation of the revered wares of the Song dynasty. The current vase with Ge-type glaze perfectly exemplifies fine imperial ceramics of this type.
The emperor’s admiration for crackle-glazed ceramics of the Song dynasty, such as Guan, Ge and Ru wares, is reflected in a painting created by the Jesuit court artist Lang Shining (Giuseppe Castiglione 1688-1766) in the first year of the Yongzheng reign (AD 1723). The painting, entitled Assembled Blessings, depicts a variety of auspicious plants arranged in a crackle-glazed vase, which may be an original Song dynasty vessel or may be a Qing vessel inspired by Song wares (see National Palace Museum, New Visons at the Ch’ing Court – Giuseppe Castiglione and Western-Style Trends, Taipei, 2007, pp. 50-51, no. 11). (Fig. 1) While some of the Qing dynasty imperial ceramics made with Song-type glazes do not have Song shapes, both the vase in the Lang Shining painting and the current vase were made in Song forms to complement their Song-style crackled glazes.
A Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) Guan vase of smaller size but similar shape, apart from a slightly more dished mouth, to the current Yongzheng vessel is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, London 2004, p. 87, pls. 87 & 87a), having been given to the museum in 1967 by Sir Alan Barlow (1881-1968). A somewhat larger Song vase of the same form, but with a mouth similar to the current Yongzheng vessel, was excavated from the Guan ware Laohudong kiln site (see Du Zhengxian (ed.), Hangzhou Laohudong yaozhi ciqi jingxuan, Beijing, 2002, p. 40, no. 15). The larger excavated vase would originally have had loop and ring handles applied to the sides in imitation of bronze vessels. This may suggest the origin of the shape. Perhaps the extant Southern Song dynasty crackle-glazed vessel which is closest to the current vase is another excavated Song dynasty Guan vase from the Laohudong kiln site (illustrated ibid., p. 51, no. 26). This vase Guan vase shares with the current Yongzheng Ge-type vessel the somewhat more compressed body and subtly-rendered mouth ring.
While amongst extant Song dynasty wares, it is those of Southern Song Guan type – noted above – that are closest to the current Yongzheng vase, similarities can also be seen in relation to vases of the Northern Song period (960-1126), made at the Ru ware kilns at Qingliangsi, Baofengxian, Henan province. An early 12th century Ru ware vase with somewhat narrower, elongated, neck, but also with pear-shaped body and standing on a slightly splayed foot, was excavated at Qingliangsi in 1987 (illustrated in University of Hong Kong, University Museum and Art Gallery, Ceramic Finds from Henan, Hong Kong, 1997, pp. 56-7, no. 26). Some links can also be seen with fine celadons from the Northern Song Yaozhou kilns at Huangbaozhen in Tongchuanxian in Shaanxi province, such as the 11th-12th century Yaozhou vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, op. cit., p. 53, pl. 47, although the Yaozhou vessel has an everted mouth rim.
A small number of fine Kangxi vases were made in a similar shape to the current Yongzheng vase, albeit that their bodies tend to be somewhat more compressed and their mouths were of simple form. These Kangxi vases include a copper-red-glazed vessel with two holes in its foot ring, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 37, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 16-17, no. 14), and a pale blue Kangxi vase in the same collection (illustrated ibid., p. 95, no. 88).
The shape of the current vase seems to have been especially appreciated by the Yongzheng Emperor as the form, with sinuous profile and subtle mouth ring, can be seen in a number of extant examples with different glazes. Amongst the latter are two with archaistic brown speckled glazes and impressed Yongzheng marks in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, which are illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 37, op. cit., p. 278, no. 254, and pp. 280-1, no. 256. (Fig. 2) Another vase of this form with rich cobalt blue glaze, and underglaze blue Yongzheng mark, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Harmony and Integrity – The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, Taipei, 2009, p. 219, no. II-45). (Fig. 3)
The Yongzheng emperor’s desire for Song-type glazes to be applied to vases of this form can be seen not only in vases like the current example, which has a Ge-type glaze, but in a number of surviving Yongzheng vessels with Jun-type glazes. A vase of this form with copper-sprayed Jun-type glaze and an impressed Yongzheng mark was sold by Christie’s New York, 29 March 2006, lot 463. (Fig. 4) Another similar Yongzheng-marked Jun-glazed vase was sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2002, lot 230 and illustrated in Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, no. 141. A similar Jun-type vase of this form is in the Baur Collection (illustrated by John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, no. 263). The Baur vase does not bear a Yongzheng mark, but instead is inscribed with the characters Xuanhe, a reference to the Xuanhe (AD 1119-1125) reign period of the Northern Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126). It is probable that the Baur vase dates to the Yongzheng reign, and its Xuanhe mark is a reminder of the elevated aesthetic tastes and admiration for antiquities for which the Huizong Emperor was known, and the fact that part of his collection was recorded in the imperially commissioned catalogue. Xuanhe bogu tulu.
Interestingly, while this form is less often found amongst the ceramics made for the Qianlong Emperor, the Zhuyuetang Collection contains a Qianlong vase, of similar shape to the current vessel, which has been decorated with a Song-style Guan-type glaze (see Shimmering Colours – Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods – The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 169, no. 98).
During a significant part of the Yongzheng reign supervision of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen was undertaken by the famous ceramicist Tang Ying (1682-1756). Tang Ying had entered the Imperial Household Department as a sixteen-year-old, serving as a page in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), but in the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign he was promoted to the rank of Vice Director. In 1728 he was sent to Jingdezhen, initially as an assistant to Nian Xiyao (1671-1738), and then taking on the role of supervisor. Tang Ying was both hard-working and became expert in all aspects of ceramic production; thus, some of the finest Qing dynasty ceramics were made during his tenure. The current vase was almost certainly one of those. The crackle-glazes of Song dynasty wares – Guan, Ge and Ru – would have been the most challenging for the Qing potters to reproduce, and the glaze on the current Yongzheng vase is exceptionally successful.
In 1735 – the last year of the Yongzheng reign – Tang Ying composed the Taocheng jishi bei ji (Commemorative stele on ceramic production), which provides a wealth of information on ceramic production at the Imperial kilns and lists some fifty-seven of their products. Peter Lam has translated one of those listings this as: ‘Ge glazes with iron body, including millet colour and pale green, copied from ancient pieces sent from the Imperial Palace.’ (Peter Y. K. Lam, ‘Three Chinese Bannermen and their Monochromes’ in Shimmering Colours – Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 44). This indicates that the emperor was prepared to send precious antique vessels hundreds of miles from Beijing to Jingdezhen in order to ensure that items, such as the current vessel, were accurate reflections of their revered Song dynasty antecedents. In the case of this Ge-type vase, the emperor’s hope that the potters at the Qing Imperial kilns could recreate the elegant aesthetic of Song dynasty wares was fully realised.