A fine and rare yellow-glazed bowl, Mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 黃釉盌 《大清雍正年製》款

Christie's London, 3rd December 1973, lot 322.

Hugh Moss, London.

Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999) (by repute). 

Jeiwah's Gallery, Hong Kong, 1987.

J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1987.

倫敦佳士得1973年12月3日，編號322

Hugh Moss，倫敦

趙從衍（1912-1999）收藏（傳）

Jeiwah's Gallery，香港，1987年

藍理捷，紐約，1987年

Delicately potted with thin walls and an elegantly rounded form, the present bowl is extremely rare on account of its lustrous soft yellow glaze. Differing from the rich 'imperial yellow' that first appeared during the Ming dynasty for use in ritual ceremonies and the vibrant lemon-yellow that was invented during the Yongzheng reign for daily use by the imperial court, this soft yellow hue shows the extraordinary range of tonality in glazes craftsmen working at the kilns in Jingdezhen were able to achieve. 

The glaze of the present bowl evenly covers both the exterior and interior save for the foot rim, a feature less commonly found in Yongzheng yellow-glazed bowls of similar form. In Qing Imperial Monochromes: The Zande Lou Collection, the author notes that 'an archival record dated 1733 of the Yongzheng reign, shows that yellow-glazed bowls and cups were classified by three grades' and wares glazed entirely yellow were reserved exclusively for the emperor, the empress dowager and the empress (see ibid., Hong Kong, 2005, p. 72).

A slightly smaller pair, similarly glazed but of an 'imperial yellow' hue, was sold at Christie's London, 8th December 1986, lot 415. Compare a few of similar form but with a white interior, of a slightly smaller size and 'lemon-yellow' glaze; two sold at Christie's New York, 19th September 2005, lot 282, and 21st March 2013, lot 1184, the latter previously in the Springfield Museums, Springfield; and one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26th November 2013, lot 3490. See also a pair with white interiors illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 898.