Lot Essay
The reign of the Yongzheng Emperor 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.
Four other Yongzheng-marked vases of this form and size are known, one covered in a Ru-type glaze in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the 2015 exhibition Pure Elegance: A Special Exhibition of Ru Ware in The Palace Museum and illustrated in Selection of Ru Ware: the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2015, p. 220-221, no.110; two examples both covered in a Guan-type glaze, one from the J.M. Hu collection, which was gifted to the Shanghai Museum in 1989, see Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Hu Collection, 1989, p. 88, no. 53, the other was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 616; and one covered in Ge-type glaze in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Qingdai Yongzheng-Xuantong guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2014, p. 111.
Four other Yongzheng-marked vases of this form and size are known, one covered in a Ru-type glaze in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the 2015 exhibition Pure Elegance: A Special Exhibition of Ru Ware in The Palace Museum and illustrated in Selection of Ru Ware: the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2015, p. 220-221, no.110; two examples both covered in a Guan-type glaze, one from the J.M. Hu collection, which was gifted to the Shanghai Museum in 1989, see Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Hu Collection, 1989, p. 88, no. 53, the other was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 616; and one covered in Ge-type glaze in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Qingdai Yongzheng-Xuantong guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2014, p. 111.