A LARGE AND RARE UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND COPPER-RED 'STAR GOD &a...

Hammer

£175,000

A LARGE AND RARE UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND COPPER-RED 'STAR GOD & DEER' LANTERN VASE
YONGZHENG / QIANLONG PERIOD 
清雍正/乾隆 青花釉里红 ‘天官赐福’ 灯笼瓶
A Chinese porcelain blue and white with underglaze copper-red lantern vase, painted with Star God of Fu Xing, the god of happiness and wealth which symbolising the embodiment of the Emperor, wearing a five-clawed dragon robe and with a neck plaque of the characters qinci “Imperial favour bestowed from the Emperor” while stroking his bear and holding his bell. One of the future kids presenting a jade ruyi sceptre to him. Also two female goddess companions on either side, one presenting a cup of wine to him the another holding a large fan next to him. Four other future children holding a bottle vase with flower, a writing box, a prunus branch and also a qin with red covered cloth respectively within a continuous landscape scene with a speckled deer with her fawn and two cranes beneath a pine amongst rockwork, above and below are bands of ruyi heads on with another band of underglaze copper red flowerheads amongst foliage both on the neck and foot.
46cm high

PROVENANCE: From the Private Collection of the Late George Withers (1946-2023). Acquired by him at auction 19th of January, 1982.

Note: The present vase is a testament to the exceptional skill of the Jingdezhen artisans from the imperial kiln during the Qing dynasty. The intricate use of underglaze red and blue, requiring precise control during the firing process, reflects a tradition that has evolved over centuries. The copper red, a challenging pigment to fire, often resulted in a greyish tone if not handled correctly, yet when successful, it produced a vivid crimson red that complemented the intense sapphire blue of the cobalt oxide. The combined use of cobalt blue and copper red in the firing process not only demanded technical expertise but also an artistic vision to achieve the harmonious interplay of colors and designs that characterize Jingdezhen imperial porcelain.
J.M. Addis in Chinese Porcelain from the Addis Collection. Twenty-two Pieces of Jingdezhen Porcelain Presented to the British Museum, London, 1979, pp 9-10, discusses the experimental techniques of the Yuan dynasty and suggests that the earliest use of copper-oxide was probably as a broad band forming the background for an incised design.

Related examples: 

• A comparable example of a lantern vase decorated with deer and pine, from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, was included in the exhibition of Imperial Perfection, Chinese Palace Porcelain of the Three Great Emperors, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, 2004 and is illustrated by Julian Thompson in the accompanying book, no.27.


• A related vase, painted in the underglaze red and blue palette with borders of intricate patterns similar to the present example, with the ‘Sanxing’ Three Star Gods sold in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19th May 1982, lot 261.


• Another very similar lantern vase painted with Three Star Gods with underglaze blue and copper red decoration, sold and illustrated in Recent Acquisitions 2009 catalogue published by S. MARCHANT & SON, London, 2009, page 66-68.


• Another example from the L. van der Heyden à Hauzeur collection, sold Christie's London, 9 December 1985, lot 124.


• A blue and white lantern vase painted with deer and crane amongst rockwork and pine trees from the Qing Court Collection illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2000, vol.36, no.135.


• For a similar vase see - Sotheby's Hong Kong, Legacies of Imperial Power: Treasures from the Imperial Collection, 7th of October 2008, lot 2203.

More Information

Of impressive quality and appearance. There is a large visible hairline body crack to one side with one or two resulting minor frits, inner rim with a chip and with a small glaze frit to the upper edge, underside with an oval-shaped hairline.