A fine pair of lemon-yellow enamelled bowls, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正　檸檬黃釉盌一對　《大清雍正年製》款

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 130 (unillustrated).

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 2, Tokyo, 2018, no. 18.

Deceptively simple in both form and colour, lemon-yellow enamelled vessels are among the most technically demanding porcelains to produce. The creation of monochrome wares such as these required flawless precision in potting, glazing, and firing, as even the slightest imperfection would lead to the piece being discarded. Among the various monochrome glazes, yellow stands out as the only colour with an intrinsic imperial connotation. Although yellow-glazed wares had been crafted since the early Ming dynasty, they were primarily reserved for ceremonial purposes. During the Yongzheng reign, lemon-yellow vessels were developed to provide the court with an elegant alternative for everyday use. This distinctive yellow enamel, derived from antimoniate oxide, was a Yongzheng innovation. By combining antimoniate of iron with tin oxide, the result was an opaque and luminous yellow glaze, characterised by its vibrant and uniform tone.

Compare a pair of closely related bowls, from the collection of Mr and Mrs Eli Lilly, sold in our New York rooms, 3rd June 1993, lot 334; another pair from the Edward T. Chow collection, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 101; a third, from the collection of W.F. van Heukelom, sold in our London rooms, 5th November 2014, lot 51; and another bowl, included in the Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Collection of the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 138, and sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2019, lot 15.

來源

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號130（沒載圖）

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷2，東京，2018年，編號18

檸檬黃釉器雖簡約，然其製作工序卻極為考究，需在胎、釉及燒造過程中達至完美無瑕，稍有瑕疵便前功盡棄。黃釉作為單色釉中唯一象征帝王的顏色，自明代初期開始燒製，主要用於禮器之上。至雍正一朝，檸檬黃釉才得以創新發展，作為宮廷日常使用的優雅器物。此黃釉以氧化銻為基礎，透過將鐵銻化物與氧化錫結合，燒製出色澤明亮、質地均勻且不透明的檸檬黃釉，實為雍正單色釉又一創舉。

比較 Eli Lilly 伉儷舊藏對盌，售於紐約蘇富比1993年6月3日，編號334。仇焱之故藏且有一對，售於香港蘇富比1980年11月25日，編號101。W.F. van Heukelom 舊藏也有一對，售於倫敦蘇富比2014年11月5日，編號51。另有一盌，收入《求知雅集珍藏．中國古陶瓷展》，香港中文大學文物館，香港，1981年，編號138，2019年11月6日在倫敦蘇富比易手，編號15。