A large teadust-glazed pear-shaped vase


Impressed Qianlong seal mark and of the periodThe compressed pear-shaped body rising from a spreading foot and tapering to a tall cylindrical neck, all covered with an evenly-mottled dark yellow-green glaze stopping at the foot, the base with the impressed seal mark.33cm (13in) high.
|清乾隆 茶葉末釉荸薺瓶 「大清乾隆年製」篆書模款Provenance: Sotheby's London, 12 and 13 July 2006, lot 161The Inder Rieden CollectionBonhams London, 10 November 2011, lot 66 來源：倫敦蘇富比，2006年7月12日及13日，拍品編號161Inder Rieden 收藏系列倫敦邦瀚斯，2011年11月10日，拍品編號66The present vase is notable for its lustrous and rich tea-dust glaze which was inspired by the patina characterising archaic bronzes. The distinctive glaze type, first occurring during the Tang dynasty (618-907), was revived on Imperial wares of the 18th century during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reign. The finer tea-dust-glazed products of this period were linked to Tang Ying (1682-1756), the illustrious supervisor at Jingdezhen. Entering the Imperial Household Department in Beijing at the age of 16, he had close control of the imperial kilns until 1756. His 'Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production' Taocheng jishi bei ji (陶成紀事碑記), compiled in 1735, treated 57 types of porcelain wares, including the 'tea-dust' wares, which are mentioned among the 40 types of monochrome glazes as existing in three variants: eel-skin yellow, snake-skin green, and speckled yellow. This type of glaze was achieved through the precipitation of yellow crystals that stood out against the dark green background, producing the resulting chayemo (茶葉末) or 'tea-leaf dust' effect, which gave a rather rich and velvety appearance to the glaze.Compare with a closely related vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, from the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol.2, no.936; another example, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated by R.Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, pl.25. Two teadust-glazed vases, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, of similar shape to the present one, were sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2018, lot 437 and Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 3665; a further example was sold at Christie's New York, 17th March 2017, lot 1245.