Lot 633
  • 633

A FINE BLUE-GLAZED STEMBOWL YONGZHENG MARK AND PERIOD |

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
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Description

  • Diameter 6 in., 15.3 cm
the rounded sides supported on a tall slightly splayed hollow stem, rising to a gently everted rim, the exterior covered in a vibrant blue stopping neatly below the rim and above the foot, the interior of the bowl and base glazed white, the inside of the stem inscribed with a horizontal six-character mark in underglaze blue

Provenance

English Private Collection.
Sotheby's London, 10th November 2004, lot 658. 

Literature

Karen Thomson, ed., The Blema and H. Arnold Steinberg Collection, Montreal, 2015, pl. 156.

Condition

Overall in good condition with expected light wear to the surface and minor firing and glaze imperfections, including slight glaze veining and minute opaque white patches around the base of the bowl and on the stem.
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.

Catalogue Note

Cobalt-blue porcelains were associated with the Tiantan, Altar of Heaven, where they were used during imperial rituals. Unsurprisingly, such glazes are sometimes referred to as 'sacrificial blue‘ (jilan).  Yongzheng blue-glazed stembowls of this size and form are in the British Museum and Musée Guimet, illustrated respectively in Albert Le Bonheur, Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, British Museum, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 233, and Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, Musée Guimet, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 165. Another example is illustrated in Ireneus László Legeza, A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Malcolm MacDonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, pl. CIII. 

See also one sold in our London rooms, 11th December 1990, lot 374, and another sold at Christie's London, 13th November 2001, lot 135.