A FINE AND RARE GUAN-TYPE RIBBED VASE, YONGZHENG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD | 清雍正 仿官釉弦紋盤口瓶 《大清雍正年製》款

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th and 29th April 1992, lot 84.

香港蘇富比1992年4月28至29日，編號84

The elegant form of this vase, with its globular body gently tapering at the neck, and its parallel raised ribs, provides a perfect canvas for showcasing the subtle pattern of crackles on the thick and unctuous glaze. In both its gracefulness of form and sophisticated glaze, this vase is an archetypal example of Yongzheng monochrome porcelain and reflects the Emperor’s penchant in celebrated Song dynasty (960-1279) wares. His enthusiastic patronage of the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and thorough knowledge of China’s porcelain tradition, resulted in the emergence of a profusion of new porcelain shapes and colours.

The fabled guanyao (‘official wares’), made especially for the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) court in Hangzhou, was held in high esteem by countless generations, including the Manchu Emperors of the Qing dynasty. While reproductions of these early wares were first made at Jingdezhen in the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644), it was under the Yongzheng reign that they reached a peak in both quality and quantity. The Emperor is recorded to have commissioned such reproductions, and to even have sent to Jingdezhen original guanyao vessels from the imperial collection. The elegant form of this piece was most likely inspired by guanyao pear-shaped bottles, but was given a contemporary look through its flat foot and gently tapering neck. A guanyao bottle vase, later inscribed on the foot with a Qianlong poem, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Obtaining Refined Enjoyment. The Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics, Taipei, 2012, cat. no. 30. 

Vases of this form and proportions are unusual, although a related vase with more prominent crackles, from the Avery Brundage collection, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Avery Brundage Collection. Chinese Ceramics, San Francisco, 1967, pl. LXX, no. A. See also a slightly larger guan-type vase of this form and with Yongzheng mark and of the period, sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 305; and another sold at Christie’s London, 18th June 2002, lot 66.

Vases of this form are also known in other monochrome glazes inspired by Song dynasty wares; a flambé-glazed vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing imperial porcelains], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 131. A vase of related form covered in a robin’s egg glaze, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 54.  

此瓶器型典雅，瓶腹渾圓，瓶頸修長，飾平行弦紋， 突顯冰裂紋秀麗，釉質豐厚潤澤。本品器型優雅，仿官釉瑩潤，屬雍正年間仿古單色瓷之典型，從中可見雍正帝對宋瓷之青睞。雍正帝熱心藝文，支持景德鎮御窰，對中國瓷器傳統學養深刻，所成瓷器紛呈新穎。

官窰器，特別為南宋位於杭州之宮廷燒製，歷代深厚敬崇，滿清皇帝亦不例外。仿官窰器，始於早明景德鎮，雍正年間質與量均達頂峰，曾送御藏官窰珍品至景德鎮為模範。本品器型，相信出自官窰梨形瓶，平足及修頸則更和當時品味。台北故宮博物院收藏一官窰瓶例，瓶足帶乾隆御製詩，曾展於《得佳趣：乾隆皇帝的陶瓷品味》，台北，2012年，編號30。

本品器型及比例甚為罕見，唯可比較一例，出自Avery Brundage收藏，冰裂紋更為明顯，現藏於三藩市亞洲藝術博物館，René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé，《Avery Brundage Collection. Chinese Ceramics》，三藩市，1967年，圖版LXX，編號A。另比一例，尺寸稍大，器型相近，雍正年器並款，售於1996年紐約佳士得1996年9月16日，編號305；另一例售於倫敦佳士得2002年6月18日，編號 66。

此外，亦可比較取材宋代瓷器之單色釉例，北京故宮博物院收藏一窰變釉例，圖載於《清代御窰瓷器》，卷1(2)，北京，2005年，圖版131；台北故宮博物院亦藏一例，施爐鈞釉，曾展於《清康雍乾名瓷》，台北，1986年，編號54。