China, 1736-1820. The body tapers slightly towards the foot and is flanked by a pair of prominently molded handles in the shape of inverted vases below the high shoulder and slightly waisted neck. The vase is covered overall with an opaque turquoise glaze densely mottled in bright and dark blue that also covers the recessed base entirely.

Provenance: From a private collection in Hampshire, United Kingdom, by repute acquired in the 1960s.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and minimal firing irregularities.

Weight: 1,097 g
Dimensions: Height 22.5 cm

Vases of this lantern shape, all applied with unusual mock handles of inverted vase shape, originated in the Yongzheng period, when they were made with Guan and Ge-type glazes, such as the two Yongzheng examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Geng Baochang (ed.), Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi (Porcelains from the Qing dynasty Imperial kilns in the Palace Museum collection), Beijing, 2005, pls. 174 and 206. However, during the Qianlong period, the shape became more popular as a vehicle for the robin's egg-blue glaze.

The ‘Robin’s egg’ glaze represents a significant technical innovation of the Yongzheng period (1723-35) attributable to Tang Ying (1682-1756), the greatest porcelain superintendent in Chinese history. The Yongzheng Emperor, who initiated many revivals of earlier ceramic techniques, was particularly enamored with the variegated Jun glazes of the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. In order to have the glazes recreated or imitated, Tang Ying sent his trusted assistant from the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, on study trips to the Jun region in Henan province to learn from the local potters and even went as far as having ceramic raw materials mined in the Jun area transported over thousands of kilometers to Jingdezhen. Among the many types of glazes derived from those efforts are mottled purple ones such as the flambé variety, and mottled turquoise ones such as ‘robin’s egg’, which Tang Ying termed lu Jun or Oven Jun, i.e., a Jun glaze fired in low-temperature ovens instead of high-temperature kilns (see Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic Archaeology et al, The Cultures of Porcelain Superintendents and Jingdezhen, conference volume, Nanchang, 2011). The ‘robin’s egg’ glaze is mentioned on a stele in Jingdezhen, inscribed by Tang Ying, as one of the major types of ceramics that he succeeded in firing and proposed as suitable for regular delivery to the Imperial court. Its color is described as intermediate between the glazes of the Shiwan kilns of Foshan, Guangdong, and those used by the Yixing kilns in Jiangsu for their zisha tea pots, but having a better and more beautiful flow.

According to scientific research conducted by the Victoria & Albert Museum and Oxford University, ‘robin’s egg’ glazes are high-lead, low-temperature enamel-type compositions fired in oxidation and are colored largely with copper and opacified with lead arsenate to achieve their extraordinary beautiful effect. See Nigel Wood, Rose Kerr et al, ‘An evaluation of the composition and production processes of Chinese “robin’s egg” glazes’, International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics, Shanghai, 2002, pp. 337-353.

Literature comparison: Compare a closely related robin’s egg glazed zun, with a Jiaqing mark and of the period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 37 Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 211, no. 190.

Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related robin’s egg glaze lantern vase, with a Qianlong mark and of the period, at Christie’s New York in The Studio of the Clear Garden: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 22 March 2018, lot 606, sold for USD 137,500.


乾隆至嘉慶時期爐鈞釉燈籠紋尊
中國，1736-1820年。釉質呈藍綠小片斑狀，腹部兩側對稱燈籠紋浮雕，圈足。

來源：英國漢普郡私人收藏，據説購於上世紀六十年代。
品相：狀況極佳，輕微磨損，輕微燒製瑕疵。

重量：1,097 克
尺寸：高 22.5 厘米

拍賣結果比較：比較一件相近爐鈞釉燈籠紋尊，乾隆款及年代，見紐約佳士得The Studio of the Clear Garden: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2018年3月22日 lot 606, 售價USD 137,500。