A FINE, SUPERB AND RARE CELADON-GLAZED JAR MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG | 清雍正 粉青釉燈籠瓶 《大清雍正年製》款

The simplicity of this vase, from the minimalist form and subtle translucent glaze, conceals the mastery involved in creating such a piece. The proficiency required in understanding the chemical compositions and the firing of such monochrome vessels is reflected in the saying, ‘Nine failures for ten charged kilns’. The delicate, almost watery, tone of celadon is a Kangxi innovation which was produced by lessening the amount of iron typically found in Song dynasty Longquan celadons. This glaze was further modified during the Yongzheng period to the finely textured bluish tone as seen on the present vase.

Two closely related examples were sold in these rooms, 30th October 2002, lot 227 and 10th April 2006, lot 160, and one sold in our New York rooms, 18th March 2014, lot 451, from the Estate of Angela Ciccio Schirone. A vase of this type but with a cover, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is published in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 192; a pair from the J.M. Hu collection was sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 34; another pair from the British Rail Pension Fund was sold twice in these rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 524, and again, 16th May 1989, lot 60; and a third pair was sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September 2004, lot 310.

A Yongzheng blue and white jar of this form and size, also with a cover, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 104; and another from the Palace Museum, Beijing, is included in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 39.