An extremely rare Jun-imitation robin's-egg-glazed tripod flower pot stand, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 爐鈞釉三足托盤 《雍正年製》款

Collection of H.R.N. Norton (d. 1961/62), no. 133.

Sotheby's London, 5th November 1963, lot 192. 

Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997). 

Wou Lien-Pai Museum, 1968-present, coll. no. Q.8.6. 

H.R.N.Norton (1961或1962年逝) 收藏，編號133

倫敦蘇富比1963年11月5日，編號192

吳權博士 (1910-1997) 收藏

吳蓮伯博物院，1968年至今，編號Q.8.6

Rose Kerr et al., Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 143. 

柯玫瑰等，《Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum》，香港，2011年，圖版143

This vessel is highly unusual not only in its lively coloration, which differs from the typical ‘robin’s egg’ glaze, but also in shape, and seems to be unique. It is testimony to the many efforts of the imperial potters both to reproduce the Jun glaze and to create new variations based on similar glaze recipes. The Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-1735) is known to have been particularly interested in Jun wares of previous dynasties and sent originals from the court collection to Jingdezhen for inspiration. The kiln supervisor, Tang Ying (1682-1756) also sent his assistant to Junzhou in Henan to research the glazes on site. A record of porcelains produced at Jingdezhen for the Yongzheng Emperor lists under Jun glazes five different colors copied from ancient specimens sent from the palace, and four new varieties, all distinguished by evocative names; see Stephen W. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art: Illustrated by Examples from the Collection of W.T. Walters, reprint London, 1981 (1896-9), p. 195f. The present glaze is very likely to represent one of those varieties. Known as lu jun (‘furnace Jun’) in Chinese, ‘robin’s egg’ glaze was fired at a lower temperature than that of the porcelain itself and required a second firing.

The shape of this vessel, with its circular rim and barbed foot, is an innovative interpretation of the Jun jardinieres of the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). A closely related Yongzheng mark and period flower-pot stand in the Palace Museum, Beijing, also with an unusual mottled glaze, but with lobed sides divided into six bracket foliations and a ring foot supported on three feet, follows the Ming prototype more closely (accession no. gu-150696). An even closer copy of the Ming version in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, is illustrated in Bushell, op.cit., p. 90, fig. 126.