An extremely rare and fine small celadon-glazed jar and cover, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 粉青釉水盂連蓋 《雍正年製》款

Yamanaka & Co., London, 25th June 1919 (£30).

Collection of Marcus Ezekiel (1854-1927).

倫敦山中商會1919年6月25日（£30）

Marcus Ezekiel（1854-1927年）收藏 

This vessel is attractive for not only its cool celadon glaze which resonances the finest Song (960-1279) prototypes, but also its harmonious proportion and delightful size which appear to be exceedingly rare during the Yongzheng period (1723-35). Water pots of this charming form were intended for use at the scholar’s desk, with the indent on the raised lip purposefully designed for receiving a spoon. The Yongzhen Emperor appears to have been particularly fond of small water pots. According to the Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu dangan / Archival Records from the Qing Imperial Household Department Workshop, water pots of various form were ordered by imperial decree in the seventh year of Yongzheng reign (1729), including a few pieces in ‘winter green’ glaze, which may well refer to the present piece, with a special requirement to have them meticulously made.

Compare two pieces of closely related shape but with a large-scale overall crackle; a guan-type water pot covered with an opaque light blue-green glaze, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. gu-148531); the other, a guan-type vessel almost identical to the Palace Museum’s piece, formerly in the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4 (II), 2010, London, pl. 1799, recently sold at Beijing Poly, 6th June 2017, lot 5002. This rare form continued to be produced in the Qianlong period (1739-95), as evidenced by an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. gu-152675), but decorated with formal flower scrolls in yangcai enamels, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 370, pl. 51.