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Lot Essay
The perfectly balanced form and rich flambé glaze of the present ewer exemplify the best elements of Yongzheng imperial porcelain. This elegant and rare form is likely to have been inspired by Middle Eastern metalwares. A Persian bronze ewer from the 12th century, illustrated by Eva Baer in Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York, 1983, p. 96, provides an example of the kind of vessel that may have stimulated the production of the current porcelain ewer. Due to trade between China and the Middle East during the Yuan (1279-1368) and early Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, many Chinese porcelain vessels began to take their form from Middle Eastern metal or glass wares. This practice was first established for Chinese porcelain wares made specifically for export to the west but soon became an integral factor in the porcelain wares made for use at the Chinese imperial court. The form of the current ewer is a particularly fine and graceful example of this tradition.
There are several known examples of this form dating to the Yongzheng period, some with a handle and some without. However, only two examples with flambé glaze appear to be published; one in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan Cang: Qingdai Yuyao Ciqi (juan 1 xia), Beijing, 2005, pp. 314-315, no. 143. The other sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 21 May 1979, lot 101.
A ewer of this form but with a teadust glaze is also in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 244.
Also compare to a celadon-glazed ewer of this form but with no handle which sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3305; and to a blue and white version sold at Christie's King Street, 7 November 2006, lot 196.
There are several known examples of this form dating to the Yongzheng period, some with a handle and some without. However, only two examples with flambé glaze appear to be published; one in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan Cang: Qingdai Yuyao Ciqi (juan 1 xia), Beijing, 2005, pp. 314-315, no. 143. The other sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 21 May 1979, lot 101.
A ewer of this form but with a teadust glaze is also in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 244.
Also compare to a celadon-glazed ewer of this form but with no handle which sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3305; and to a blue and white version sold at Christie's King Street, 7 November 2006, lot 196.