XUANDE MARK, KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

细节

A Rare and Massive Underglaze-Blue, Red and Celadon-Decorated Carved Vase
Xuande mark, Kangxi period (1662-1722)
The well-potted body and trumpet neck carved in low relief with landscape scenes of buildings set amidst trees, bamboo and rocks on the banks of rivers flowing through cloud-wreathed mountains, all painted in a vibrant tone of underglaze red, a soft olive green and rich inky tones of underglaze blue reserved against the pale blue-green tint of the white glaze
27¼in. (69.2cm.) high

来源

Christie's, London, 9 July 1979, lot 118.
Dr. Sheldon Baddock Collection, New York.
Ralph M. Chait, New York

拍品专文

The combination of celadon green with underglaze cobalt blue and underglaze copper red is relatively rare, no doubt because it was so difficult to fire successfully. This magnificent vase is not only exceptionally large, its copper-red decoration is of particularly fine color. With the coming of the Kangxi reign came renewed imperial interest in porcelain and a demand for high quality and variety. In the early years of the reign the potters revived the combination of underglaze blue and underglaze copper red on single pieces, and with the re-establishment of the imperial kiln complex court demand for innovation resulted in molded surface decoration and the use of areas of celadon green being added to this already challenging palette. The current vase is an especially magnificent example of this complex decorative technique, and appears to be larger than any other vase that has been published.

The favored decorative theme in this technique is landscape with trees, mountains, water and molded, celadon-green rocks. The composition of the current vase is similar to that on a smaller (44.4cm.) trumpet-mouth vase in the Seikado Bunko, Tokyo, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, Tokyo, 1983, vol. 15, Qing, p. 146, no. 138, but the larger size of the current vase allows for an even more dramatic, and more elegantly coherent arrangement of the elements. One of the most striking features of the design of both vases, is the depiction of the trunks and branches of the pine trees in rich copper red, which provides a most effective contrast with the dense cobalt blue of the foliage.