A FINE AND OUTSTANDING 'ROBIN'S EGG' TRIPOD CENSER INCISED SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

well potted, the bombé sides rising to a straight mouth, flanked by a pair of upright arched handles on the rim, supported on three short tapered feet, brightly covered overall in a 'peacock feather' variation of the glaze with liberally applied vibrant turquoise streaks covering a bronze-coloured ground, the base incised with a six-character reign mark beneath the mottled glaze, the tips of the feet dressed in a dark brown wash

Acquired in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s

Zandelou Qingdai guanyao danseyou ciqi/Qing Imperial Monochromes. The Zandelou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Museum and Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 21.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (on loan).

Helen D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collection of Chinese Ceramics from the Pavilion of Ephemeral Attainment, vol. III, Hong Kong, 1950, pl. 141.

There are some occasional burst air bubbles. The interior well has a slight yellowish tinge to the glaze, but otherwise the overall condition is very good. The actual colour is very close to the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Yongzheng Emperor, who initiated many revivals of earlier ceramic techniques, was particularly enamored with the variegated Jun glazes of the Song and Ming dynasties. In order to have the glazes recreated or imitated he went as far as sending potters from the imperial kilns on study trips to the Jun region in Henan province. Among the many types of glazes derived from those efforts are mottled purple ones such as the flambé, and mottled turquoise ones such as the ‘robin’s egg’ varieties.

The present strongly mottled turquoise glaze represents a rare variation of the much more common ‘robin’s egg’ glaze. Characterized by more intense turquoise/brown contrasts and larger-scale streaks, it is generally differentiated by the term ‘peacock feather’ glaze. It seems to represent an early Yongzheng version, before the more evenly dappled ‘robin’s egg’ glaze came into use. Examples with this glaze are rare.

A meiping vase with a similar glaze, with three loop handles on the shoulder and bearing a four-character Yongzheng mark, in the Nanjing Museum, was included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 38; two other vases with related glazes, also with four-character Yongzheng reign marks, are in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section]: Qingdai [Qing dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pls. 66 and 67; a zun-shaped vase with ‘peacock feather’ glaze, also of Yongzheng mark and period, was included in the exhibition Anthology of Chinese Art. Min Chiu Society Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1985-6, cat. no. 184, from the Collection of Helen and Peter; and another incense burner, but with handles at the sides, was sold in these rooms, 1^st November 1994, lot 99, and at Christie’s Hong Kong 31^st May 2010, lot 1883. For the more common ‘robin’s egg’ glaze compare a Yongzheng incense burner of similar form sold in these rooms, 28^th November 1978, lot 156.