QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

The form and design of the current vases pay deliberate homage to earlier prototypes of archaic bronze hu vases and Song dynasty ceramics. In the 18th century, such archaism was a court-directed initiative and archaic pieces from the imperial collections were sent to Jingdezhen to be reproduced in porcelain: Tang Ying, the Superintendent of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, listed in Taocheng jishi bei (Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production) in the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign (1735), a number of glazes in imitation of Song wares, including ‘moon-white, pale green and deep green, all copied from ancient pieces sent from the Imperial Palace’.

Two related archaistic vases with Qianlong marks, each inscribed on the base with an Imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor are in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei. The poem lines indicate that the vases were used as receptacles for flowers, see Obtaining Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperor’s Taste in Ceramics, Taipei, 2012, pl. 85-86. Two further Qianlong-marked examples are illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol. Two, London, 1994, p. 216, nos. 874-875, and another pair of guan-type glazed vases from the J. M. Hu Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2851.