A highly unusual underglaze red, black and blue 'dragon and carp' vase, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng - Qianlong period | 清雍正至乾隆 青花釉裏紅釉下黑彩鯉躍龍門獸耳壺

The present vase is unique in its combination of form and design, and no other similar vase appears to be recorded.

The only related example is an unmarked meiping from the Qing Court collection in the Beijing Palace Museum, attributed to the Qianlong period, and is painted in a similar manner with an underglaze-red dragon emerging from unevenly dappled underglaze-black clouds, lacking the fish and waves; see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, vol. 3, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 183, the same vase was also discussed by Beng Baochang in the Qianlong chapter of Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 277.

The combination of using underglaze red, black, and blue is extraordinarily rare, making the current vase an outstanding example of the innovation and the highest level of technical perfection achieved on underglaze-decorated porcelains by craftsmen working at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods. Successful firing of copper-red and underglaze black, especially for larger pieces, proved a significant challenge to potters at the imperial kilns from Ming dynasty until the end of the Qing dynasty, and mostly likely required numerous attempts before achieving a single successful example, let alone one such superbly controlled brilliant underglaze-black and strong underglaze-red as the present example.

The Yongzheng Emperor is renowned for his integrity, steadfast commitment to justice, and unwavering pursuit of excellence. Throughout his reign, a substantial allocation of resources was dedicated to the production in the imperial kiln. Under the guidance of supervisors Nian Xiyao and Tang Ying, the most skilled craftsmen from across the nation were recruited to create a wide variety of innovative wares that marked a triumphant chapter in the history of Chinese ceramics.

The depiction of the dragon is very close to that known from a 14th-century hanging scroll attributed to the Buddhist monk painter Fachan Muqi, which also appears to have inspired Nian Xiyao or Tang Ying as a model for the design on imperial porcelains, for examples, see an iron-red and enamel decorated dragon vase, Kangxi period, illustrated in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 41; and a relief-decorated black-ground dragon vase, Mark and period of Yongzheng, sold in these rooms, 23rd May 1978, lot 163, illustrated in Sotheby's Hong Kong Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 381. See also a brushpot decorated with a dragon similarly emerging from fluffy clouds but painted in sepia enamel only; see Peter Y.K. Lam, 'Tang Ying (1682-1756), the Imperial Factory Superintendent at Jingdezhen', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 63, 1998-9, p. 72, fig. 7 for the painting, and p. 69, fig. 5 for the brushpot, now preserved in the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum. Compare also a related grisaille-decorated 'Tang Ying' brush pot, sold in these rooms, 27th April 2003, lot 178.

此獸耳壺不論從器型還是裝飾工藝上均極為少見，以青花釉裏紅及釉下黑彩裝飾之清代官窰器，目前僅見北京故宮博物院藏一乾隆梅瓶例。瓶無款，以釉裏紅作龍，以釉下黑彩作雲，遊龍穿雲，煙靄斑駁，然無水波魚紋，錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．青花釉裏紅（下）》，上海，2000年，圖版183。耿寶昌先生於《明清瓷器鑑定》乾隆篇中亦提及雍乾兩朝一些青花釉裏紅器為突出主題，會以釉裏黑色繪烏雲相襯托，北京故宮博物院藏梅瓶既是一例（見頁277）。

青花釉裏紅雖為傳統品種，但對燒造要求極高，釉裏紅中作為著色劑的銅元素極易揮發，窰工需要對窰爐內溫度有精確熟練的掌握，方能使其呈色亮麗，而此壺更加以釉下黑彩裝飾，突出與釉裏紅及青花之對比，傳世稀少，彌足珍貴。

雍正一朝，皇帝藝術素養高超，要求嚴謹，事必躬親，而雍正皇帝對瓷器燒造要求機器嚴肅認真，其製瓷工藝卻不斷推陳出新，在年希堯、唐英兩位督陶官先後影響下，使其得到空前發展。此類以潑墨成雲、靈動變換的雲龍繪畫技法頗具代表性，最早見於宋末元初禪僧牧谿之畫作。類似繪畫風格裝飾的御用瓷器，可見見莊紹綏收藏一件去清康熙礬紅彩鯉魚躍龍門長頸瓶，著錄於朱湯生，《中國瓷器：莊紹綏收藏》，香港，2009年，圖版71。另見一清雍正黑地五彩浮雕龍紋天球瓶，售於香港蘇富比1978年5月23日，編號164，著錄於《香港蘇富比二十年》，香港，1993年，編號381。類紋飾亦見於一唐英製墨彩筆筒上，現藏香港中文大學文物館，參見林業強〈Tang Ying (1682-1756)，the Imperial Factory Superintendent at Jingdezhen〉，《東方陶瓷學會期刊》，第63期，1998-9年，牧谿畫作見頁72，圖7，筆筒見頁69，圖5。另可比一唐英製墨彩筆筒，售於香港蘇富比2003年4月27日，編號178。