A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT FLAMBÉ-GLAZED EWER, HUAJIAO
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF HERMAN BAER (1898-1977) Herman Baer (1898-1977) was born in Bavaria but moved to Berlin where he worked with interior design and antiques. In 1936, Baer feared persecution in Germany and fled to London with his wife where he set up an antiques shop on Davies Street. He soon became one of London's most respected antiques dealers and was often seen in the city's auction houses acquiring works of art. Baer developed close relationships with international collectors, including Kenneth Thompson and various members of the Brenninkmeyer family. Many of the pieces from Thompson's collection are now on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada. Although Baer passed away in 1977, his shop remained open, run by his wife until 1988.
A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT FLAMBÉ-GLAZED EWER, HUAJIAO

YONGZHENG IMPRESSED FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Details
A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT FLAMBÉ-GLAZED EWER, HUAJIAO
YONGZHENG IMPRESSED FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)
The ewer is elegantly potted with a wide bulbous body and moulded with a band of chrysanthemum petals to the shoulder. The tall neck is shaped with a knop to the mid-section, rising to a flared spout. There is an arched handle linking the neck to the shoulder. It is covered in a rich raspberry-red flambé glaze suffused with vibrant purple and milky white streaks, thinning to beige at the extremities of the mouth and handle.
10 in. (25.4 cm.) high
Provenance
The Collection of Herman Baer (1898-1977).

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Xichu CC Wang
Xichu CC Wang

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.



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