A 'Langyao' red-glazed vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

Also known as sang-de-boeuf (‘ox-blood’), the copper-red langyao glaze was developed under Lang Tingji (1663-1715), supervisor of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen from 1705-1712, and the term is thought to derive from his name. Under his direction, the imperial potters attempted to recreate the lost formula of copper-red glazed, first produced during the early Ming period.

Compare a closely related Kangxi example of this type preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 15; another preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 1; and a related example with a metal mouth rim, in the collection of the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Nanjing and Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 1.