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A FINE AND VERY RARE COPPER-RED DISH MARK AND PERIOD OF XUANDE
Estimate
7,200,000 - 10,000,000 HKD
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Description
THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$2,500,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THE BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREMIUM LOTS.
the rounded sides rising from a recessed centre marked with a slight ridge, supported on a tapered undercut foot and a convex base, masterfully applied evenly overall with a quintessential tone of deep sacrifical-red glaze suffused with tiny darker specks, pooling to a dark crimson tone around the ridge on the interior and thinning to white towards the rim and the foot, becoming a transparent glaze slightly tinged with green just above the footring, the white base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double ring
the rounded sides rising from a recessed centre marked with a slight ridge, supported on a tapered undercut foot and a convex base, masterfully applied evenly overall with a quintessential tone of deep sacrifical-red glaze suffused with tiny darker specks, pooling to a dark crimson tone around the ridge on the interior and thinning to white towards the rim and the foot, becoming a transparent glaze slightly tinged with green just above the footring, the white base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double ring
Provenance
Collection of R.H.R. Palmer (1898-1970), no. 470.
Sotheby’s London, 28th May 1968, lot 98.
Sotheby’s London, 28th May 1968, lot 98.
Exhibited
Monochrome Porcelain of the Ming and Manchu Dynasties, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1948, cat. no. 126, illustrated pl. IV.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 109.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 109.
Literature
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 656.
Condition
The dish is in an overall very good condition. There are very few scratches on the dish. The actual colour of the dish is remarkably bright and quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Copper-red: A Triumph of the Imperial Potters
Regina Krahl
This dish is a rare, large example with a copper-red glaze and a Xuande reign mark, where the glaze colour has been particularly successful. Monochrome copper-red glazes were perfected during the Yongle and Xuande reigns, but the large number of discarded sherds at the Jingdezhen kiln sites impressively highlights the difficulties experienced by even the highly accomplished imperial potters of that time to achieve satisfactory results. After the Xuande reign, the copper pigment was therefore almost completely abandoned until it was revived on a grand scale, but with less striking results, in the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty.
While both the Yongle and Xuande strata of the waste heaps of the imperial kiln site have brought to light many examples of copper-red pieces that did not meet the high standards of quality control, extant heirloom examples of either period are extremely rare; for discarded copper-red vessels of the Yongle and Xuande reigns see Jingdezhen chutu Mingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Ming imperial kilns excavated at Jingdezhen], Beijing, 2009, cat. nos. 18-30 and 44-9, and for buried heaps of copper-red sherds, ibid., p.14, figs. 9 and 10.
A discarded example of a similar copper-red glazed dish of Xuande mark and period, with a fine, deep red glaze on the inside, but a broad band at the rim remaining white, and uneven white patches on the outside, was included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. no. 69 (fig. 1). Two other red dishes of Xuande mark and period, also discarded at the kiln site, one perhaps somewhat dark, the other somewhat pale, were included in the exhibition Jingdezhen Zhushan chutu Yongle guanyao ciqi [Yongle Imperial porcelain excavated at Zhushan, Jingdezhen], Capital Museum, Beijing, 2007, cat. nos. 227 and 228, together with a similar monochrome red dish from the Yongle stratum with a deep red glaze, but a wide plain white rim area, cat. no. 31.
A somewhat smaller successfully fired copper-red dish of Xuande mark and period in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 168 (fig. 2).
An unmarked copper-red Yongle dish of similar form but slightly smaller size in the National Museum of China, Beijing, is published in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section], Mingdai [Ming dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 28, together with a dish of Xuande mark and period with slightly flared rim, pl. 47. Three copper-red dishes of Xuande mark and period in the Shanghai Museum are illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections : A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pls. 3-42, 3-43 and 3-44, all probably with flared rim, the former two of deep red and with underglaze-blue reign mark, the latter pale in colour and with an incised mark; Lu also publishes a modern copy of a red Xuande dish, pl. 5-30.
Regina Krahl
This dish is a rare, large example with a copper-red glaze and a Xuande reign mark, where the glaze colour has been particularly successful. Monochrome copper-red glazes were perfected during the Yongle and Xuande reigns, but the large number of discarded sherds at the Jingdezhen kiln sites impressively highlights the difficulties experienced by even the highly accomplished imperial potters of that time to achieve satisfactory results. After the Xuande reign, the copper pigment was therefore almost completely abandoned until it was revived on a grand scale, but with less striking results, in the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty.
While both the Yongle and Xuande strata of the waste heaps of the imperial kiln site have brought to light many examples of copper-red pieces that did not meet the high standards of quality control, extant heirloom examples of either period are extremely rare; for discarded copper-red vessels of the Yongle and Xuande reigns see Jingdezhen chutu Mingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Ming imperial kilns excavated at Jingdezhen], Beijing, 2009, cat. nos. 18-30 and 44-9, and for buried heaps of copper-red sherds, ibid., p.14, figs. 9 and 10.
A discarded example of a similar copper-red glazed dish of Xuande mark and period, with a fine, deep red glaze on the inside, but a broad band at the rim remaining white, and uneven white patches on the outside, was included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. no. 69 (fig. 1). Two other red dishes of Xuande mark and period, also discarded at the kiln site, one perhaps somewhat dark, the other somewhat pale, were included in the exhibition Jingdezhen Zhushan chutu Yongle guanyao ciqi [Yongle Imperial porcelain excavated at Zhushan, Jingdezhen], Capital Museum, Beijing, 2007, cat. nos. 227 and 228, together with a similar monochrome red dish from the Yongle stratum with a deep red glaze, but a wide plain white rim area, cat. no. 31.
A somewhat smaller successfully fired copper-red dish of Xuande mark and period in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 168 (fig. 2).
An unmarked copper-red Yongle dish of similar form but slightly smaller size in the National Museum of China, Beijing, is published in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section], Mingdai [Ming dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 28, together with a dish of Xuande mark and period with slightly flared rim, pl. 47. Three copper-red dishes of Xuande mark and period in the Shanghai Museum are illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections : A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pls. 3-42, 3-43 and 3-44, all probably with flared rim, the former two of deep red and with underglaze-blue reign mark, the latter pale in colour and with an incised mark; Lu also publishes a modern copy of a red Xuande dish, pl. 5-30.