AN EXTREMELY RARE AND MAGNIFICENT ROBIN'S EGG AND FAMILLE-ROSE REVOLVING VASE SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS ARE REQUESTED TO COMPLETE THE PREMIUM LOT PRE-REGISTRATION 3 WORKING DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE. BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE.





 



ingeniously crafted from three separate pieces fitted together, the freely turning body of globular form covered allover in a finely mottled turquoise and purple glaze, set between a ruby-ground neck and foot, the flared neck defly painted with scattered torch ginger lilies and lotus flowers borne on acathus leaf stems reserved on a sgraffiato feather ground incised through the ruby ground, flanked by a pair high-relief elephant-head handles, above a pendent ruyi-lappet collar, the foot  similarly decorated with an upright ruyi-lappet  skirt  and detached floral sprigs, constructed with an tall cylindrical interior vase rising from the base and pinned to the interior wall of the neck, the mouth and base enamelled in turquoise with details trimmed in gold, the base with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

A few of the lappets around the collar and the skirt have been broken and restored. There are a few light scratches to the robin's egg body near the foot. There is some light wear to the gilding and minute areas of loss to the enameling due to bubbling of the enamels. The overall condition is very good.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Wondrous Robin's Egg Glazed Revolving Vase

Revolving porcelains owe their existence to the aesthetic taste of the Qianlong emperor and to the creative genius of Tang Ying, Superintendent of the Imperial Kilns at Jingdezhen. Like his grandfather, the Kangxi emperor, Qianlong was fascinated by technical innovations and collected mechanical trinkets and toys. Aware of the emperor's taste for the novel, Tang Ying applied his talent and skills with tremendous dedication to design and manufacture complex vessels such as revolving wares for the enjoyment of the emperor and the imperial court. These moveable vases were truly technical marvels which required the utmost mastery of every step of the process, from the shaping of the ware to its glazing and enamelling to ensure a perfect fit between the pieces. Revolving vases were generally constructed from four sections: the base, the inner vase, the belly and the neck which were fitted together.

This sumptuous vase demonstrates the evolution of the standard porcelain vase into the highly complex and wonderfully idiosyncratic reticulated revolving vases. A non-revolving vase of related form and decoration which appears to have served as the precursor to the present vase was sold in our New York rooms, 31st May 1989, lot 202. A vase of similar form and size, but the main body covered in a tea-dust glaze and the neck and foot painted with a design pattern on a mauve ground was sold at Christie's New York, 27th November 1991, lot 430. This Christie's vase is also moulded with a pair of elephant head handles but lacks the ruyi collar on the present vase. The possibilities presented by the revolving mechanism were further explored in bowls such as one included in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-lung Reign, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 63. This celadon-glazed bowl is moulded with fish swimming in a pond which rotates around a similarly shaped ruyi-moulded foot.

Presented with the idea of moveable designs on vessels, this soon culminated with the famous reticulated revolving vases. A vase of similar form to the present piece, decorated in famille-rose with two reticulated dragon medallions on a blue ground, and a yellow ground neck and foot, in the Shanghai Museum, was included in the Exhibition of Ceramics throughout China's History from the Shanghai Museum, Seibu Art Museum, Tokyo, 1984, cat. no. 98. For further examples of revolving vases of various forms and openwork decoration, see two vases from the Qing Court collection included in the National Palace Museum exhibition op. cit., cat. nos 73, 74, 76 and 77; and another from the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, illustrated in Imperial Kiln Porcelain of Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 26.

The present vase would have been among one of the emperor's highly prized wares and is remarkably successful in its combination of a striking robin's egg glaze with the luxurious palette of the neck and foot. The imaginative name 'robin's egg' was given to a glaze of opaque turquoise with overall purplish blue mottling, and was used from the Yongzheng period (1723-53) until the 19th century. While some quantities of vessels covered in the striking glaze were manufactured in the Imperial kilns only the finest pieces bear a Yongzheng or Qianlong reign mark. The glaze itself is said to be a free interpretation of Song dynasty (960-1127) 'Jun' glazes, hence its Chinese name 'lu jun' or 'furnace Jun', because it was fired at a lower temperature than that of firing the porcelain. The mottled turquoise effect on the present vase, achieved with the use of copper and arsenic, is particularly finely streaked and the shade is of a striking light turquoise blue. A Qianlong mark and period lantern vase glazed to similar effect is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyingtang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 923.

The warm reddish flecks of the robin's egg glaze are cleverly accentuated in the ruby ground of the neck and foot of this vase, which are decorated in the complicated and laborious sgraffiato technique. This technique involved reserving the design on a monochrome enamel ground that itself was embellished with needlepoint etching of endless scrolling fronds, and was included in the repertoire of Jingdezhen potters under Tang Ying during the Qianlong period for use only on very special pieces. A number of sgraffiato-ground vessels enamelled in different colour schemes, from the Qing Court collection and now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, were exhibited in the National Palace Museum op. cit., including one with a strikingly similar design pattern on the neck, possibly produced by the same hand as the present vase, cat. no. 68. The ruby-ground decoration is also reminiscent of that on a magnificent ruby-ground meiping, formerly in the collections of Lord Loch of Drylaw and Alfred Morrison, last sold in these rooms, 31st October 2004, lot 131, and now in the Meiyintang collection.

Care and attention paid to every detail is seen in the use of a dense gold outline on the ruyi head and the raised patterning and intense colouration which intensifies the extravagant quality of the present vase. Clearly inspired from enamelwork on metal-bodied wares, this type of decoration was introduced to ceramic design during the Yongzheng period as seen on a large altar vase, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 507.