Chinese Porcelain
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : China Song to Yuan porcelain Ming porcelain Qing porcelain Song Ming Early Qing Qianlong Inventions Bird
Chronology : 1000-1400 15th century 1430-1459 1480-1499 16th century 1540-1569 18th century 1710-1719 1730-1739 1740-1749 1750-1759
See also : China Song to Yuan porcelain Ming porcelain Qing porcelain Song Ming Early Qing Qianlong Inventions Bird
Chronology : 1000-1400 15th century 1430-1459 1480-1499 16th century 1540-1569 18th century 1710-1719 1730-1739 1740-1749 1750-1759
Northern Song Ru Ware
Intro
Under the Song dynasties, porcelain replaces jade for the dishes of the imperial palace, provided that its refinement is extreme. The greatest geometric simplicity is highly appreciated. The softness of the glazes is so great to the touch that up to present day it remains the unequaled summit of this art. Incised decorations are often exquisite but are not essential.
From the beginning of the dynasty with the white Ding type porcelain, some cups are multi-lobed, taking the shape of a blooming flower. This form has indeed a practical purpose because it helps to hold the brushes during washing.
In the history of mankind, artistic refinement is not a matter of continuous improvement, as one might believe. The chemical secret of the Imperial ceramics of the Northern Song is lost for a long time, and the quality of the smooth and translucent glaze using agate powder will never be equaled.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
From the beginning of the dynasty with the white Ding type porcelain, some cups are multi-lobed, taking the shape of a blooming flower. This form has indeed a practical purpose because it helps to hold the brushes during washing.
In the history of mankind, artistic refinement is not a matter of continuous improvement, as one might believe. The chemical secret of the Imperial ceramics of the Northern Song is lost for a long time, and the quality of the smooth and translucent glaze using agate powder will never be equaled.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
1
intense blue-green brush washer
2017 SOLD for HK$ 294M by Sotheby's
A 13 cm round brush washer was sold for HK $ 294M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2017, lot 5. This intense blue-green piece has an exceptionally shiny crackled surface. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
900-year-old dish to smash US$36 million auction world record for Chinese antiques https://t.co/U56WqVJCQB pic.twitter.com/H7bBHIqiIv
— SCMP News (@SCMP_News) August 24, 2017
2
pale blue-green brush washer
2012 SOLD for HK$ 208M by Sotheby's
The classic color of Ru is a very pale blue-green jade imitation. A washer 13.5 cm in diameter in smooth texture and very good condition was sold for HK $ 208M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012. The edge is pinched in six locations, simulating the petals of a flower.
This washer was known long before the rediscovery of the site.
This washer was known long before the rediscovery of the site.
Xuande Fish Bowl
2017 SOLD for HK$ 230M by Sotheby's
When the emperor himself encouraged the development of porcelain techniques, the ingenuity of the Jingdezhen potters no longer had any limits. The reign of Xuande, the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, is one of those golden ages with spectacular progress for blue and red under glaze.
The red is still difficult to achieve and its drawing remains limited to massive silhouettes of fish or fruit. At the same time the cobalt blue is obtained in a series of tones which enable subtle contrasts. The quality of the Xuande blue and white will never be surpassed.
The sharpness of the blue drawing becomes exceptional but the iconography remains traditional. The wall of a bowl is read like a paper ink drawing being gradually unrolled. The theme of fishes moving at mid-depth amidst the aquatic weeds of a pond is well suited to such achievements.
A bell-shaped bowl on that theme, 23 cm in diameter, has a ultimate refinement : it is lobed in ten sections down to the base which is also lobed in the extension. The goal is an unprecedented visual effect : the unfolding of the image before the eyes gives the impression of a gentle movement of the fish.
It was sold for HK $ 230M from a lower estimate of HK $ 100M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2017, lot 101.
The lobes are not new in Chinese porcelain : washers or saucers lobed for imitating a flower had been a specialty of the fabulous Ru kilns at the end of the Northern Song dynasty.
A piece as deep as that lobed fish bowl is a technical feat : no other specimen of this form and visual effect has surfaced in such a large size. Two smaller bowls were identified in an ancient inventory of the Taipei Museum. Waste from an even smaller discarded piece was found in Jingdezhen.
The red is still difficult to achieve and its drawing remains limited to massive silhouettes of fish or fruit. At the same time the cobalt blue is obtained in a series of tones which enable subtle contrasts. The quality of the Xuande blue and white will never be surpassed.
The sharpness of the blue drawing becomes exceptional but the iconography remains traditional. The wall of a bowl is read like a paper ink drawing being gradually unrolled. The theme of fishes moving at mid-depth amidst the aquatic weeds of a pond is well suited to such achievements.
A bell-shaped bowl on that theme, 23 cm in diameter, has a ultimate refinement : it is lobed in ten sections down to the base which is also lobed in the extension. The goal is an unprecedented visual effect : the unfolding of the image before the eyes gives the impression of a gentle movement of the fish.
It was sold for HK $ 230M from a lower estimate of HK $ 100M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2017, lot 101.
The lobes are not new in Chinese porcelain : washers or saucers lobed for imitating a flower had been a specialty of the fabulous Ru kilns at the end of the Northern Song dynasty.
A piece as deep as that lobed fish bowl is a technical feat : no other specimen of this form and visual effect has surfaced in such a large size. Two smaller bowls were identified in an ancient inventory of the Taipei Museum. Waste from an even smaller discarded piece was found in Jingdezhen.
A Xuande bowl expected to fetch US$12.8mil leads #HongKong's Chinese Works of Art sales on 5 Apr #sothebysasianart https://t.co/5ILRjKHVQh pic.twitter.com/WIhR7E11Yk
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 27, 2017
Chenghua Chicken Cup
2014 SOLD for HK$ 280M by Sotheby's
In 1464 CE Chenghua became the eighth Ming Emperor. Politically dominated by his eunuchs and socially by his concubines, he did not leave an indelible mark in history during this reign that lasted 24 years. Inactive after the reign of Xuande, the Jingdezhen kilns were reactivated three decades later by Chenghua.
The blue and white in two hues of the beginning looks similar as Yuan and early Ming styles. The most recent technical innovation is then the doucai, by which other colors could be added through a second firing.
The best period of Chenghua porcelains is the second decade of his reign with the unique technique of the so-called palace bowls. Improvements are made to the choice of materials, enabling a higher temperature.
These pieces are innovative by the extreme care in realizing the porcelain with a dense paste, a transparent and robust glaze, providing a tactile quality that will never be available again.
The doucai color also gets some spectacular progress. Mixing enameled colors over the glaze allows a wide range of shades. The gently curved shapes of their walls are also new, in several variants.
Cups are used for wine and bowls for food. These pieces bearing the imperial mark are mainly made for the use of the principal concubine Wan Guifei whose demands were evidently extreme. They are highly rare and not even found as failed or waste pieces, demonstrating the rigorous surveillance made on site in Jingdezhen by imperial eunuchs.
This limited production was so expensive that the emperor's advisers were able to stop it after about ten years, during the 20th year of the reign corresponding to 1485 CE, two years before the death of the emperor and his concubine.
The drawing is innovative with asymmetrical compositions often adorned with spirals. The chicken cups are prestigious. Bowls are decorated with delicacy and simplicity, with flowers or fruits of botanical accuracy.
The figures of Chenghua ceramics are simple and naive. However, his chicken wine cups had an almost mystical reputation. The rooster is the emperor, and the hen protecting her chicks is his favorite concubine. Wan Guifei herself intervened to improve the quality of imperial porcelains.
One of these wonders is in perfect condition, on a pristine white background, without any crack or scratch. This piece 8.2 cm in diameter is decorated underglaze in cobalt blue and multicolored on its surface.
It was sold by Sotheby's for HK $ 29M on April 27, 1999 by Sotheby's, purchased at that sale by Eskenazi, and for HK $ 280M on April 8, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
On October 8, 2013, Sotheby's sold a palace bowl with the Chenghua imperial mark for HK $ 140M, lot 101. It is decorated inside and outside with humble musk-mallows.
380 years earlier the Ru of the Song had been interrupted by the Yuan invasion after only a few years. Similarly, the production of Chenghua bowls did not survive his reign. Easier to execute, the doucai had a great future and is one of the major steps that lead to the perfection of colors of the falangcai under the Qing.
The blue and white in two hues of the beginning looks similar as Yuan and early Ming styles. The most recent technical innovation is then the doucai, by which other colors could be added through a second firing.
The best period of Chenghua porcelains is the second decade of his reign with the unique technique of the so-called palace bowls. Improvements are made to the choice of materials, enabling a higher temperature.
These pieces are innovative by the extreme care in realizing the porcelain with a dense paste, a transparent and robust glaze, providing a tactile quality that will never be available again.
The doucai color also gets some spectacular progress. Mixing enameled colors over the glaze allows a wide range of shades. The gently curved shapes of their walls are also new, in several variants.
Cups are used for wine and bowls for food. These pieces bearing the imperial mark are mainly made for the use of the principal concubine Wan Guifei whose demands were evidently extreme. They are highly rare and not even found as failed or waste pieces, demonstrating the rigorous surveillance made on site in Jingdezhen by imperial eunuchs.
This limited production was so expensive that the emperor's advisers were able to stop it after about ten years, during the 20th year of the reign corresponding to 1485 CE, two years before the death of the emperor and his concubine.
The drawing is innovative with asymmetrical compositions often adorned with spirals. The chicken cups are prestigious. Bowls are decorated with delicacy and simplicity, with flowers or fruits of botanical accuracy.
The figures of Chenghua ceramics are simple and naive. However, his chicken wine cups had an almost mystical reputation. The rooster is the emperor, and the hen protecting her chicks is his favorite concubine. Wan Guifei herself intervened to improve the quality of imperial porcelains.
One of these wonders is in perfect condition, on a pristine white background, without any crack or scratch. This piece 8.2 cm in diameter is decorated underglaze in cobalt blue and multicolored on its surface.
It was sold by Sotheby's for HK $ 29M on April 27, 1999 by Sotheby's, purchased at that sale by Eskenazi, and for HK $ 280M on April 8, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
On October 8, 2013, Sotheby's sold a palace bowl with the Chenghua imperial mark for HK $ 140M, lot 101. It is decorated inside and outside with humble musk-mallows.
380 years earlier the Ru of the Song had been interrupted by the Yuan invasion after only a few years. Similarly, the production of Chenghua bowls did not survive his reign. Easier to execute, the doucai had a great future and is one of the major steps that lead to the perfection of colors of the falangcai under the Qing.
1559-1566 Jiajing Fish Jar
2017 SOLD for HK$ 214M by Christie's
The palace bowls of the Chenghua emperor were fabulous by the quality of the porcelain and their early application of polychromy but the pieces were small and the drawings were naive. A period of inactivity begins because of court protests against the onerous taste of the leading concubine for such a luxury.
The progress of Jingdezhen porcelain is restarting with the Jiajing emperor, an art lover and an adept of Daoism. Becoming emperor at the age of 14 in 1522 CE, Jiajing retreated from politics in 1542 and reigned for 24 further years, obsessed by the search for immortality.
Large pieces are made under his rule, using the bright color palette identified as wucai. Wucai means five enamels, five having here a meaning of plurality adjusted to the five elements.
The porcelain was first painted with the classical underglaze blue. The other colors were added over the glaze. Experts believe that three firings have been necessary. The fish jars display a golden orange of the carps specially developed under Jiajing, applying an iron red over an already fired yellow enamel. This onerous technique was not maintained afterwards.
This emperor liked to state that he was the fisherman of the heavenly pond. The pattern with fish swimming amidst aquatic plants enables a pleasing interweaving of the drawings on the walls of the jars and Jiajing himself promotes this theme by massive commissions. The details of the themes are related to homophonic rebuses bringing to the emperor the auspices that he so much enjoyed.
No record was found of imperial orders for Jiajing polychrome porcelains, leading to a terminus post quem ca 1559. All the fish jars share the same basic design.
A 46 cm high wucai guan shaped jar with its cover is one of the biggest pieces of that type. It is animated by carps of two different sizes. The suspension of the fish in water allows various attitudes.
Pieces which are still with their original cover are very rare in private hands. This one was sold for HK $ 44M by Sotheby's on October 29, 2000, and for HK $ 214M by Christie's on November 27, 2017, lot 8006. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
In the same technique and size as the example above, a pair of Jiajing fish jars with their original covers was sold for £ 9.6M by Sotheby's on November 6, 2024, lot 32. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This pair has been treasured in the same German family for about a century. Another pair with covers, somewhat damaged, is kept at the Musée Guimet.
The progress of Jingdezhen porcelain is restarting with the Jiajing emperor, an art lover and an adept of Daoism. Becoming emperor at the age of 14 in 1522 CE, Jiajing retreated from politics in 1542 and reigned for 24 further years, obsessed by the search for immortality.
Large pieces are made under his rule, using the bright color palette identified as wucai. Wucai means five enamels, five having here a meaning of plurality adjusted to the five elements.
The porcelain was first painted with the classical underglaze blue. The other colors were added over the glaze. Experts believe that three firings have been necessary. The fish jars display a golden orange of the carps specially developed under Jiajing, applying an iron red over an already fired yellow enamel. This onerous technique was not maintained afterwards.
This emperor liked to state that he was the fisherman of the heavenly pond. The pattern with fish swimming amidst aquatic plants enables a pleasing interweaving of the drawings on the walls of the jars and Jiajing himself promotes this theme by massive commissions. The details of the themes are related to homophonic rebuses bringing to the emperor the auspices that he so much enjoyed.
No record was found of imperial orders for Jiajing polychrome porcelains, leading to a terminus post quem ca 1559. All the fish jars share the same basic design.
A 46 cm high wucai guan shaped jar with its cover is one of the biggest pieces of that type. It is animated by carps of two different sizes. The suspension of the fish in water allows various attitudes.
Pieces which are still with their original cover are very rare in private hands. This one was sold for HK $ 44M by Sotheby's on October 29, 2000, and for HK $ 214M by Christie's on November 27, 2017, lot 8006. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
In the same technique and size as the example above, a pair of Jiajing fish jars with their original covers was sold for £ 9.6M by Sotheby's on November 6, 2024, lot 32. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This pair has been treasured in the same German family for about a century. Another pair with covers, somewhat damaged, is kept at the Musée Guimet.
1711 Kangxi Falangcai Bowl
2018 SOLD for HK$ 240M by Sotheby's
The Kangxi Emperor and King Louis XIV had similar ambitions. They decided in 1684 to share their scientific and cultural knowledge through Jesuits who accepted the customs of imperial China. The French were interested in brocades and chopsticks and the Chinese in using enamels to cover copper and glass.
The activity is developed in a workshop of the Forbidden City under the direct control of the emperor. A new glassmaker arrived in 1695 brings with him the enamels invented by the alchemists to create splendid colors with colloidal gold. The glass pieces colored with the enamel of the foreigners (in Chinese : falangcai) serve as diplomatic gifts.
Chinese craftsmen joined the Jesuits of the imperial workshop around 1711 to develop a mixed technology of the highest luxury. Meanwhile the potters of Jingdezhen were working with the limited color range of the wucai for a purpose of productivity.
Chinese porcelain was unknown in Europe and the Jesuits considered it impossible to affix the enamel over the glaze. After the failure of trials using pre-existing white wares, porcelains were supplied incompletely glazed to Beijing from Jingdezhen for the painting of the outside wall and the base with the colors unavailable at Jingdezhen. A final heating completed the process.
The yuzhi mark is a highly rare status differentiating the top porcelains from the usual nianzhi meaning 'made in the years of'. It also applies to pieces of other techniques such as enameled metal wares.
The yangcai will be the complete mastery of the falangcai process at Jingdezhen around the sixth year of the Yongzheng emperor, 1729 CE. The participation of foreigners will no longer be necessary.
A 12.5 cm red ground falangcai bowl with a blue yuzhi mark of Kangxi has the same overall shape as the example above, including a gently flared rim and a short foot. This early example was prepared in Jingdezhen without glazing the outer wall before its full layering with the European enamels in the imperial workshops in Beijing and a second firing therein.
The ruby red is achieved by inclusion of colloidal gold. The wall is decorated with four baroque cartouches, each one featuring a vibrant bloom on bright yellow ground overall matching the four season floral theme : a lilac pomegranate, a pink peony, a pink and green hollyhock and a deep purple camellia, displayed with their matching buds and leaves.
The intense egg yellow of the panels and the royal blue of the flowers are only found on the earliest Kangxi falangcai wares, and are fully different from the much weaker yellows and blues of the Jingdezhen yingcai. The process was not reused on later falangcai.
Also the purple shows in places a golden sheen of not fully dissolved gold particles, assessing on that piece the earliest mastering phase of the falangcai. The experimental falangcai pieces kept at the Taipei Imperial Museum display a higher maturity of the process, with no trace of gold at magnifications lower than 50 times.
The surface division into four sectors with a floral design is also unprecedented, a consequence of the lack of experience of European artists in the painting of rounded surfaces. The blue flowers inserted between the panels are presented from different angles, showing their undersides, profiles and inner centres all at the same time, with no other example known.
This bowl is estimated HK $ 40M for sale by Sotheby's on May 7, 2025, lot 3638, to benefit the acquisition fund of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
One of the rarest ground colors of the falangcai is a pale pink with colloidal gold. Two 14.7 cm diameter bowls, each one decorated with four lobed cartridges showing flowers in front of a blue sky, were probably made side by side. They carry the yuzhi mark of Kangxi. The floral themes are however different, attesting to a close cooperation between Chinese and European artists. The bowl kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei follows the traditional Chinese auspices of the four seasons.
It was sold for HK $ 240M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house. The pairing bowl is of European decoration, displaying flowers without symbolic meaning and a perspective effect that is not usual in traditional Chinese art.
The activity is developed in a workshop of the Forbidden City under the direct control of the emperor. A new glassmaker arrived in 1695 brings with him the enamels invented by the alchemists to create splendid colors with colloidal gold. The glass pieces colored with the enamel of the foreigners (in Chinese : falangcai) serve as diplomatic gifts.
Chinese craftsmen joined the Jesuits of the imperial workshop around 1711 to develop a mixed technology of the highest luxury. Meanwhile the potters of Jingdezhen were working with the limited color range of the wucai for a purpose of productivity.
Chinese porcelain was unknown in Europe and the Jesuits considered it impossible to affix the enamel over the glaze. After the failure of trials using pre-existing white wares, porcelains were supplied incompletely glazed to Beijing from Jingdezhen for the painting of the outside wall and the base with the colors unavailable at Jingdezhen. A final heating completed the process.
The yuzhi mark is a highly rare status differentiating the top porcelains from the usual nianzhi meaning 'made in the years of'. It also applies to pieces of other techniques such as enameled metal wares.
The yangcai will be the complete mastery of the falangcai process at Jingdezhen around the sixth year of the Yongzheng emperor, 1729 CE. The participation of foreigners will no longer be necessary.
A 12.5 cm red ground falangcai bowl with a blue yuzhi mark of Kangxi has the same overall shape as the example above, including a gently flared rim and a short foot. This early example was prepared in Jingdezhen without glazing the outer wall before its full layering with the European enamels in the imperial workshops in Beijing and a second firing therein.
The ruby red is achieved by inclusion of colloidal gold. The wall is decorated with four baroque cartouches, each one featuring a vibrant bloom on bright yellow ground overall matching the four season floral theme : a lilac pomegranate, a pink peony, a pink and green hollyhock and a deep purple camellia, displayed with their matching buds and leaves.
The intense egg yellow of the panels and the royal blue of the flowers are only found on the earliest Kangxi falangcai wares, and are fully different from the much weaker yellows and blues of the Jingdezhen yingcai. The process was not reused on later falangcai.
Also the purple shows in places a golden sheen of not fully dissolved gold particles, assessing on that piece the earliest mastering phase of the falangcai. The experimental falangcai pieces kept at the Taipei Imperial Museum display a higher maturity of the process, with no trace of gold at magnifications lower than 50 times.
The surface division into four sectors with a floral design is also unprecedented, a consequence of the lack of experience of European artists in the painting of rounded surfaces. The blue flowers inserted between the panels are presented from different angles, showing their undersides, profiles and inner centres all at the same time, with no other example known.
This bowl is estimated HK $ 40M for sale by Sotheby's on May 7, 2025, lot 3638, to benefit the acquisition fund of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
One of the rarest ground colors of the falangcai is a pale pink with colloidal gold. Two 14.7 cm diameter bowls, each one decorated with four lobed cartridges showing flowers in front of a blue sky, were probably made side by side. They carry the yuzhi mark of Kangxi. The floral themes are however different, attesting to a close cooperation between Chinese and European artists. The bowl kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei follows the traditional Chinese auspices of the four seasons.
It was sold for HK $ 240M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house. The pairing bowl is of European decoration, displaying flowers without symbolic meaning and a perspective effect that is not usual in traditional Chinese art.
Qianlong
1
1736 Swallow Bowl
2023 SOLD for HK$ 200M by Sotheby's
A culmination of the artistic porcelain skill is the narrative wrapping around a falangcai vessel, like the image from a handscroll interrupted by a poem on the reverse.
According to the palace records, ‘a large pair of bowls with apricot grove and spring swallows’ was submitted in 1734 CE during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor. A pair matching this description is kept in the palace Museum in Taipei.
A similar pair bearing the same poem with another illustration of the trees and birds bears the imperial mark of Qianlong. It was arguably prepared at the very beginning of that reign, 1736. The narrative illustration was soon afterward out-fashioned, the new emperor preferring naturalistic themes. Both elements are slightly different one another in the practice of the Yongzheng reign.
The Qianlong pair was separated at auction in 1929. One of the bowls soon joined the Sir Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum.
Its counterpart went to several prestigious owners including Barbara Hutton and Dr Alice Cheng. It was sold for HK $ 150M by Christie's on November 28, 2006, lot 1309, and for HK $ 200M by Sotheby's on April 8, 2023, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This small piece 11.3 cm in diameter is potted with translucent rounded sides rising to a flaring rim. The exterior is enameled in two shades of pink, yellow, green, brown and black. Its Qianlong four-character imperial mark is inserted in a double square.
Illustrating the pleasure of spring, it features two auspicious swallows flying in the sky beside a blossoming apricot tree intertwined with a willow. Such a combination had been considered as vulgar by a Ming taste arbiter. The willow tree is an emblem for a slender beautiful woman while the apricot refers to a playful sexuality. Swallows bring worldwide the announcement of spring. Often seen in pairs, they also symbolize a loving couple.
The ten-character poem inscribed in four black lines on the reverse is related with a dance performed by a Tang imperial concubine with a gown of shimmering feathers. Its three lines are respectively preceded and followed by ruby red enamel seals meaning early spring and dawn glow.
According to the palace records, ‘a large pair of bowls with apricot grove and spring swallows’ was submitted in 1734 CE during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor. A pair matching this description is kept in the palace Museum in Taipei.
A similar pair bearing the same poem with another illustration of the trees and birds bears the imperial mark of Qianlong. It was arguably prepared at the very beginning of that reign, 1736. The narrative illustration was soon afterward out-fashioned, the new emperor preferring naturalistic themes. Both elements are slightly different one another in the practice of the Yongzheng reign.
The Qianlong pair was separated at auction in 1929. One of the bowls soon joined the Sir Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum.
Its counterpart went to several prestigious owners including Barbara Hutton and Dr Alice Cheng. It was sold for HK $ 150M by Christie's on November 28, 2006, lot 1309, and for HK $ 200M by Sotheby's on April 8, 2023, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This small piece 11.3 cm in diameter is potted with translucent rounded sides rising to a flaring rim. The exterior is enameled in two shades of pink, yellow, green, brown and black. Its Qianlong four-character imperial mark is inserted in a double square.
Illustrating the pleasure of spring, it features two auspicious swallows flying in the sky beside a blossoming apricot tree intertwined with a willow. Such a combination had been considered as vulgar by a Ming taste arbiter. The willow tree is an emblem for a slender beautiful woman while the apricot refers to a playful sexuality. Swallows bring worldwide the announcement of spring. Often seen in pairs, they also symbolize a loving couple.
The ten-character poem inscribed in four black lines on the reverse is related with a dance performed by a Tang imperial concubine with a gown of shimmering feathers. Its three lines are respectively preceded and followed by ruby red enamel seals meaning early spring and dawn glow.
2
1743 reticulated vase
2010 UNPAID at £ 43M plus a buyer's premium of £ 8.6M, at Bainbridges
In 1728 CE, Tang Ying is appointed by the Yongzheng emperor as the Superintendent of the Imperial porcelain produced at Jingdezhen. He spends several years observing the best practices of the potters. One of his first major successes is the development of the yangcai, offering a less expensive substitute to the Imperial City's falangcai that remains the high end.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was cancelled. Here is the link to the 2012 report by The Telegraph before the sale was cancelled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has resurfaced. It was sold for HK $ 150M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2018, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was cancelled. Here is the link to the 2012 report by The Telegraph before the sale was cancelled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has resurfaced. It was sold for HK $ 150M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2018, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
3
1752 100 Birds Vase
2021 SOLD for RMB 266M by Poly
The manufacturing process of the reticulated revolving vase was arguably the most difficult ever, with the elements being assembled after separate firing. The Qianlong emperor wisely stopped it after pairing the last additional pieces to the production from the first batches.
The technology of the double vase nevertheless remained appealing for offering the most favorable auspices. Such pieces may be identified as turning heart bottles.
One of them, 63 cm high, is among the most massive in that category. The outer belly features a flying phoenix in a scenery. The open work matches the details of the landscape in irregular shapes, which is an additional feat with a higher risk of deformation during the firing. The rotation of the inner cylinder reveals the flock of ten species of auspicious birds in their flight facing the phoenix as a symbol of the harmonious balance of yin and yang.
The Divine Mother Empress Dowager Chongqing was held in very high regard by her son the Qianlong emperor and her 60th birthday in 1752 CE was one of the most lavish events of his reign.
The Imperial archives record that, on the fifth month of Qianlong's 18th year, the emperor commissioned Jingdezhen to fire a turning heart bottle with fighting dragons which was delivered by Tang Ying in the 11th month of the next year after 18 months of labor.
The yangcai vase with the phoenix was not documented. It was certainly prepared in the same period for a filial presenting to the empress dowager who was known to enjoy the story of the '100 birds'. It was sold for £ 330K by Christie's on June 15, 1999, lot 99, and for RMB 266M by Poly on June 7, 2021, lot 5153.
The technology of the double vase nevertheless remained appealing for offering the most favorable auspices. Such pieces may be identified as turning heart bottles.
One of them, 63 cm high, is among the most massive in that category. The outer belly features a flying phoenix in a scenery. The open work matches the details of the landscape in irregular shapes, which is an additional feat with a higher risk of deformation during the firing. The rotation of the inner cylinder reveals the flock of ten species of auspicious birds in their flight facing the phoenix as a symbol of the harmonious balance of yin and yang.
The Divine Mother Empress Dowager Chongqing was held in very high regard by her son the Qianlong emperor and her 60th birthday in 1752 CE was one of the most lavish events of his reign.
The Imperial archives record that, on the fifth month of Qianlong's 18th year, the emperor commissioned Jingdezhen to fire a turning heart bottle with fighting dragons which was delivered by Tang Ying in the 11th month of the next year after 18 months of labor.
The yangcai vase with the phoenix was not documented. It was certainly prepared in the same period for a filial presenting to the empress dowager who was known to enjoy the story of the '100 birds'. It was sold for £ 330K by Christie's on June 15, 1999, lot 99, and for RMB 266M by Poly on June 7, 2021, lot 5153.
4
Undated Double Gourd Vase
2010 SOLD for HK$ 253M by Sotheby's
A vase was sold for HK $ 253M by Sotheby's on October 7, 2010 from a lower estimate of HK $ 30M, lot 2126.
This 40 cm high double gourd vase without handles bears the Qianlong imperial mark. By its design and execution, it is a magnificent example of the yangcai in the techniques and styles of Jingdezhen with its pale yellow background, a long cylindrical slender neck above the upper bulb and sgraffiato incisions.
This piece is enamel painted with flowers including lotus, peonies and hibiscus and with foliate scrolls. The large lower bulb is centered at both sides with a pink double lotus bloom in the style of Giuseppe Castiglione. Symbols of longevity are displayed in two gold medallions. The interior is glazed in bright turquoise.
Designed in Beijing around 1741 CE, the sgraffiato becomes in Jingdezhen a dense pattern of scrollwork deeply applied on the monochrome background for reminding a rich brocade.
This 40 cm high double gourd vase without handles bears the Qianlong imperial mark. By its design and execution, it is a magnificent example of the yangcai in the techniques and styles of Jingdezhen with its pale yellow background, a long cylindrical slender neck above the upper bulb and sgraffiato incisions.
This piece is enamel painted with flowers including lotus, peonies and hibiscus and with foliate scrolls. The large lower bulb is centered at both sides with a pink double lotus bloom in the style of Giuseppe Castiglione. Symbols of longevity are displayed in two gold medallions. The interior is glazed in bright turquoise.
Designed in Beijing around 1741 CE, the sgraffiato becomes in Jingdezhen a dense pattern of scrollwork deeply applied on the monochrome background for reminding a rich brocade.
5
Undated Pheasant Vase
2011 SOLD for HK$ 200M by Sotheby's
When the Chinese emperor was powerful, he allowed foreign influences to mingle with the Imperial tradition. In the case of Qianlong, watchmaking, for example, has been a real transfer of technology from England and Chinese imports greatly contributed to the success of Swiss production.
The vases, snuff bottles and brushpots made during his reign reach a high degree of perfection. Shapes are Eastern but the subjects and compositions, sometimes, are European.
The enamels with European themes are named Falangcai ("foreign color"). A beautiful porcelain vase of this type passed at auction at Sotheby's from a lower estimate of HK $ 180M on April 7, 2011, lot 15. A press release from rhe aucrion house told that this vase has been sold for HK $ 200M privately after the sale.
It is 20 cm high and bears the Imperial mark. On a white background, its exquisite painting shows a couple of pheasants on a nest. The balance of the curves between the bottle and its neck is perfect.
The vases, snuff bottles and brushpots made during his reign reach a high degree of perfection. Shapes are Eastern but the subjects and compositions, sometimes, are European.
The enamels with European themes are named Falangcai ("foreign color"). A beautiful porcelain vase of this type passed at auction at Sotheby's from a lower estimate of HK $ 180M on April 7, 2011, lot 15. A press release from rhe aucrion house told that this vase has been sold for HK $ 200M privately after the sale.
It is 20 cm high and bears the Imperial mark. On a white background, its exquisite painting shows a couple of pheasants on a nest. The balance of the curves between the bottle and its neck is perfect.
