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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 Ru-type glaze perfectly exemplifies fine imperial ceramics of this period.
Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under both the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular admiration of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from his reign were made with fine Ru-style glazes. It is possible that the copy of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes made for the Yongzheng emperor was devised by the greatest of all the supervisors of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying, who first came to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was especially known for his highly successful imitation of early wares. Indeed the Jingdezhen tao lu notes that: 'His close copies of famous wares of the past were without exception worthy partners (of the originals); and his copies of every kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly matched ...' translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, p. 20.
The elegant form of the current vase was greatly influenced by early Ming blue and white moonflasks. Yongzheng vases of this form and impressive size are very rare and the current vase is an exceptional example of the Yongzheng adaptation of the Song-dynasty Ru glaze. A very similar Ru-type glazed vase of this shape but slightly smaller in size (53.3 cm.) was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3966. (Fig. 1) A related, slightly smaller moon flask (52.7 cm.) with a Guan-type glaze, is illustrated by P. Lam in Ethereal Elegance, Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2023, pp. 144-45, no. 31.
A large blue and white, Yongzheng-period example, of slighty smaller size (53.3 cm.) and similar shape to the present example, was sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2018, lot 171. (Fig. 2)
Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under both the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular admiration of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from his reign were made with fine Ru-style glazes. It is possible that the copy of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes made for the Yongzheng emperor was devised by the greatest of all the supervisors of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying, who first came to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was especially known for his highly successful imitation of early wares. Indeed the Jingdezhen tao lu notes that: 'His close copies of famous wares of the past were without exception worthy partners (of the originals); and his copies of every kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly matched ...' translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, p. 20.
The elegant form of the current vase was greatly influenced by early Ming blue and white moonflasks. Yongzheng vases of this form and impressive size are very rare and the current vase is an exceptional example of the Yongzheng adaptation of the Song-dynasty Ru glaze. A very similar Ru-type glazed vase of this shape but slightly smaller in size (53.3 cm.) was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3966. (Fig. 1) A related, slightly smaller moon flask (52.7 cm.) with a Guan-type glaze, is illustrated by P. Lam in Ethereal Elegance, Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2023, pp. 144-45, no. 31.
A large blue and white, Yongzheng-period example, of slighty smaller size (53.3 cm.) and similar shape to the present example, was sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2018, lot 171. (Fig. 2)