A rare red-glazed 'Langyao' meiping, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 郎窰紅釉梅瓶

Collection of Leonard Daneham Cunliffe (1860-1937) (by repute).

Collection of Ronald Copeland (1884-1958), President of the Copeland Spode factory, at Trelissick house, Cornwall, and thence by family descent.

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Leonard Daneham Cunliffe (1860-1937) 收藏（據傳）

Ronald Copeland (1884-1958)收藏，前Copeland Spode 瓷器廠總裁，位於康瓦爾郡特雷利西克府邸，此後家族傳承

The present meiping is an extraordinary example of imperial experimentation. While copper-based red glazes had first been developed at Jingdezhen under the Yuan dynasty in the fourteenth century, their use had largely been abandoned by the fifteenth due to the difficulty of controlling such a temperamental pigment, as evidenced by enormous volumes of discarded sherds unearthed at Yongle and Xuande strata at the imperial kiln sites. Only after two centuries, under the reign of the ambitious Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), did artisans finally dare to return to the coveted and extraordinary glaze effects that ‘copper-red’ could create. Also known as sang-de-boeuf (‘ox-blood’), langyao was redeveloped under the supervision of Lang Tingji (1663-1715), supervisor of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen from 1705-12, and the term is thought to derive from his name. Under his direction, the imperial potters attempted to recreate the lost formula of the early Ming period and perfected the creation of comparable deep and even copper-red glazes such as the present, which were also manipulated to produce the delicate mottled glazes of ‘peachbloom’ wares. These glazes, still somewhat difficult to control, at their best produce luscious cascading glaze effects rippling with vitality and glowing in a rich vermillion tone – the present vase being no exception.

While langyao vases from this period are not uncommon, it is rare to find an example thrown in such a voluptuous meiping form, with a steep sloping shoulder, outstretched lip, generous body and forgoing the spreading foot of more typical baluster forms. Compare a related meiping of similar form sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 17th April 1975, lot 67; and another, of smaller size but closely related proportions and brilliant glaze, from the collection of H.R.H. Norton, sold in our London rooms 26th March 1963, lot 76; and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th November 1985, lot 215.

此尊窰紅釉梅瓶乃官窯創新試驗之出色例證。銅紅釉最早於元代景德鎮燒製，惟由於發色難以控制，至明代中期幾近停用；永樂與宣德層位出土之大量棄瓷片，即為當時失敗之證。直至兩世紀後，康熙皇帝（1662–1722）重整官窯，方始復興此難度極高、色澤鮮紅豔麗之釉彩。郎窰紅，在西方被稱為「sang de boeuf」，即法語中「牛血」，由郎廷極（1663–1715）監造景德鎮御窯期間（1705–1712）重新研發，釉名或即取自其姓氏。在其督導之下，官窯匠師致力於重現明初銅紅釉之工藝，終得釉色深潤、勻稱之佳品，並發展出更為細膩之「豇豆紅」等變體釉彩。銅紅釉燒成條件極為苛刻，唯成品若佳，釉色流淌自然，光澤凝潤，紅中泛紫，動感十足，此瓶即為一例。

康熙時期郎窰紅釉瓶雖有傳世，但此種飽滿梅瓶形制者殊為罕見。瓶肩斜削挺拔，唇口外撇，腹部豐碩渾厚，省卻常見之外撇圈足，比例端莊，氣度非凡。可參考一例近似造型之梅瓶，售於香港蘇富比，1975年4月17日，編號67；另見 H.R.H. Norton 舊藏一例，體量略小，釉色艷麗，曾售於倫敦蘇富比1963年3月26日，編號76，後再售於香港蘇富比，1985年11月20日，編號215。