A RARE COPPER-RED AND UNDERGLAZE-BLUE WATERPOT (PINGGUO ZUN) KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD |

of compressed globular form, elegantly potted with generous rounded sides rising from a concave base to an incurved mouth recessed into the shoulder, the exterior intricately painted in rich tones of raspberry red depicting four stylized full, round blooms of chrysanthemum, peony, lotus and hibiscus, each borne on a curved leafy spray and surrounded by stylized foliage, all below a narrow classic-scroll band, the incurved mouth encircled by a lotus meander and the foot with triangular lappets, divided by underglaze-blue line borders, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character mark in three vertical columns

Collection of John Milton Bonham (1835-1897).

The waterpot is in overall good condition aside from a 1.5-cm faint hairline to the body, very light expected wear, a few minute burst glaze bubbles and tiny nicks to the glaze. Minor nicks to the footring and three old labels adhered to the base. Please note that this lot includes a stand, frame or other component made from a type of Chinese hardwood, which, if exported, will require a CITES permit to leave the United States.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In his desire to revive the porcelain industry and to regain standards of quality that had long been lost, one of the Kangxi Emperor’s priorities appears to have been the recreation of designs and glazes in copper red, which were notoriously difficult to fire successfully and had been neglected since the outstanding achievements of the Xuande period (1426-35). Among the earliest pieces successfully produced during his reign were porcelains painted in underglaze blue and copper red, such as the present piece. Early in his reign, the Kangxi Emperor employed the gifted painter, Liu Yuan (c. 1638-1685) for a decade from c. 1678 to 1688, to create porcelain designs. This approach of involving a designer was highly unusual at the time and resulted in a new departure for porcelain decoration. The finely penciled lines of the four different flowers with extending scrolling leaves, for example, would seem to owe their elegant design to Liu Yuan’s influence.

Closely related waterpots are held in important museums and collections worldwide; see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, 1989, pl. 22; one in the Shanghai Museum, published in Underglaze Blue and Red. Elegant Decoration of Porcelain from Yuan, Ming and Qing, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 118; another, from the Meiyintang Collection, included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 733, where the author identifies the stylized flower sprays as peony, lotus, chrysanthemum and hibiscus; and a fourth waterpot from the collection of C.P. Lin, included in the exhibition Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, cat. no. 113, previously sold in these rooms, 28th November 1979, lot 221, and illustrated in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Twenty Years 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 88. Further examples sold at auction include one from the collection of the Xuantong Emperor (r. 1909-11), sold in our New York rooms, 16th April 1983, lot 488; and one formerly in the collections of Herschel V. Johnson and Roger Pilkington, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 54.

Waterpots of this form were also produced in other glaze colors; see a peachbloom example, formerly in the J. Pierpont Morgan Collection, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, illustrated in The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Decorative Arts, Part II. Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings. Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets, Washington, D.C., 1998, pl. 72.; and a clair-de-lune glazed waterpot in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Wang Qingzheng (ed.), Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 240.