A fine and very rare teadust-glazed cylindrical vase, Yongzheng incised four-character seal mark and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HK$2,400,000 – HK$3,500,000 ($310,000 - $450,000). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015
The vase is potted with a tall columnar body rising to angular shoulders and a cylindrical neck below a flared mouth rim, all supported on a ribbed splayed foot. It is covered in a rich lightly speckled olive-green glaze, thinning to brown at the rim. 10 5/8 in. (27 cm.) high, box
Provenance: Sold at Christie's New York, 3 June 1993, lot 243
Notes: Teadust glazes have their origins in the Tang dynasty at kilns making black wares, but reached their peak of popularity on imperial porcelain of the 18th century. Their unique appearance is due to slight under firing of a glaze with significant iron and magnesium oxide content, which results in the development of fine pyroxene crystals during cooling. These give the glaze an attractive brown, greenish microcrystalline appearance, which was so prized at the Qing court. The perfection of this glaze on porcelain seems to have been achieved in the Yongzheng reign. The Yongzheng Emperor seems to have admired the 'antique' quality that teadust glazes imparted to the porcelain on which they were used. These glazes are sometimes called Changguan you, 'Imperial Factory glazes', and they are mentioned in Tang Yings famous Taocheng jishi bei ji, Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production, of 1735.
The cylindrical form of the current lot is very rare among Imperial teadust-glazed pieces. Compare to a related pale celadon-glazed cylindrical vase of similar size and shape with a Yongzheng six-character mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing and illustrated in Qing Dai Yuyao Qici, The Palace Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics in the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2005, p. 243, no. 107. (fig. 1)
fig. 1: A pale celadon-glazed cylindrical vase, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period. Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
For an illustration of the identical shape in ceramics of the Yongzheng period, see the line drawings in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing Ciqi Jianding, Study of Ming and Qing Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 235, fig. 401, no. 5.
CHRISTIE'S. THE IMPERIAL SALE & IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 3 June 2015, Convention Hall