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ELEGANT KANGXI PEACH-BLOOM VASE Rosemary Scott, Independent Scholar This elegantly-shaped vase, is covered with a subtle deep pink glaze known as ‘peach-bloom’, which was developed on porcelains in the Kangxi reign (1662-1722). The glaze was applied to a limited number of relatively small vessel shapes all of which were designed for use on a scholar’s table. They have traditionally been known as the ba da ma 八大 碼 (Eight Great Numbers), comprised of four elegant vase forms, including the current vase form, three water pots and a seal-paste box. There are in fact four water pot forms, bringing the total to nine, rather than eight. This may be significant, since, although the number eight was traditionally regarded as lucky, the number nine is the imperial number. It has been suggested by several scholars that these peach-bloom vessels were made especially to be given as gifts from the Kangxi Emperor to favoured court officials. These ba da ma bear an underglaze blue Kangxi mark on their bases. Some scholars have argued that the style of writing of the Chinese characters suggests that the pieces date to the period from 1678 to 1688. However, other scholars have proposed that the vessels date to the latter part of the Kangxi reign, on the basis of the sophistication of both glaze and form, as well as the discovery of one of the typical peach-bloom vase forms (decorated in underglaze copper red) bearing the reign mark of the succeeding Yongzheng reign (AD 1723-1735). The subtle pinkish-red glaze seen on the current vase and related vessels is one of the Qing dynasty’s most interesting and admired glazes. It belongs to the copper-red family of glazes and is known as ‘peach-bloom’ in English and by a variety of names in Chinese, including ‘pingguo hong 蘋果紅 (apple red), jiangdou hong 豇豆紅 (bean red), and meiren zui 美 人醉 (drunken beauty). The glaze is of particular beauty and technical complexity, and has been the focus of scientific research since the mid-20th century. Both the overall soft pinkish-red of the glaze, and the areas of clear green which appear to a greater or lesser extent on certain vessels, owe their colour to copper. Firing in a reducing atmosphere creates the red colour, while re-oxidation creates the green. This was therefore a glaze which had to be applied very precisely and fired with great care. Research suggests that a copper-lime pigment was applied between two layers of colourless glaze. The copper-lime pigment was applied by blowing through a bamboo tube with fine silk gauze over the end, to achieve an effect similar to modern spraying techniques. This allowed the thickness of the copper-lime layer to be adjusted so that some areas would be thicker than others. In those thicker areas there was additional flux, which thinned the upper glaze layer and allowed the copper to re-oxidise and produce clear green. In the other areas, some of the pigment was undissolved in the glaze making it appear slightly opaque and yet smooth on the surface, while the majority of the copper did dissolve and produced a rich pinkish-red, and creating one of the most highly esteemed glazes from the Qing imperial kilns. The current vase represents one of the rarer of the peach-bloom ba da ma forms, and one of the most elegant. In Chinese the form is often known as sanxian zun 三弦尊 (three stringed vase), which derives from the three fine rings around the base of the neck which recall the strings on Chinese musical instruments. It is also sometimes called, laifu zun 萊菔尊 (radish-shaped vase), because of the accentuated narrowing of the vase from the wide shoulders to the base. One name for this type of vase in English is 'Morgan-shape vase' after the American collector Mrs. Mary J. Morgan, who paid a legendarily large sum for an example in the mid-19th century. The vase was sold after her death by American Art Association on March 8, 1886 for US$18,000. Two vases of this type were bought by William T. Walters (1820-94) from this sale and are now in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. A small additional number of peach-bloom vases of this form have been published including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from the collection of Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952), accessioned in 1950. One from the Palace Museum Beijing (fig. 1) is illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 137, col. pl. 120; and another was included in the Min Chiu Society Exhibition of Monochrome Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1977, no. 10. A vase of this form from the Freer Gallery of Art was illustrated by R.M. Chait in 'The Eight Prescribed Peachbloom Shapes Bearing the K'ang Hsi marks', Oriental Art, 1957, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 132. An example previously in the collection of Mrs. Yale Kneeland (Anna Ilsley Ball 1869-1955) was sold at Christie's Hong Kong 7 July 2003, lot 564, and another formed part of the set of eight peach-bloom-glazed vessels from the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 557.
A FINE AND EXTREMELY RARE PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED ‘THREE-STRING’ VASE, LAIFU ZUN
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)
Details
A FINE AND EXTREMELY RARE PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED ‘THREE-STRING’ VASE, LAIFU ZUN
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)
8 1⁄8 in. (20.5 cm.) high
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)
8 1⁄8 in. (20.5 cm.) high
Provenance
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 21 May 1979, lot 95
Literature
Sotheby’s Hong Kong - Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 332
Exhibited
Royal Academy of Arts, 100 Masterpieces from the Au Bak Ling Collection, London, 1998
Brought to you by
Sherese Tong (唐晞殷)
AVP, Senior Specialist