KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

The inscriptions recount two Odes to the Red Cliff by the Song poet, Su Dongpo, and the landscapes illustrate scenes from the odes. See Julia B. Curtis' paper 'Markets and Motifs on Seventeenth Century Porcelain from Jingdezhen', in The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, pp. 144 and 145, for a discussion on square blue and white 'Red Cliff' vases, drawing particular attention to the most frequently encountered, which are inscribed on two sides with Su Dongpo's 'Odes to the Red Cliff', such as on the present vase. Ms. Curtis quotes an observation by Margaret Medley that the painting of the landscapes on these vases is executed "with a great refinement in a very minute and careful style".

A 'Red Cliff' square vase, very similar to the present example, in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 42 and 43, pl. 31; and another similar vase is illustrated by Julia Curtis, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century, New York, 1995, p. 84, no. 26. Three further similar examples from his own collection, are illustrated by Sir Michael Butler, 'Chinese Porcelain at the Beginning of Qing', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 1984-1985, London, 1986, pls. 38 - 40, and discussed pp. 33-36.