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Lot Essay
Prince Henri of Orleans, Count of Paris was the Orleanist claimant to the throne of France from 1940 until his demise in 1999. The Count of Paris spent many of his formative years in exile in Morocco before returning to France in 1950 after the law of exile was rescinded.
Much of the collection inherited by the Count of Paris came directly from his royal ancestors, members of the House of Bourbon. It is likely to have been the Duke of Orleans, or his cousin Prince Henri of Orleans, the two great explorers of the family, who brought the current vase back from their travels. The family spent several periods in exile and during the Second World War the collection was sent to be housed in London, Morocco and Belgium. After the end of the war the collection was returned with Henri, 2nd Count of Paris to the family in France.
Yongzheng vases of this large size are extremely rare and the current vase stands out as an exceptional example of the Yongzheng adaptation of the Song dynasty Ru glaze.
Few Yongzheng examples of this shape have been published and they are usually found in a paler crackled grey Guan-type glaze such as the Yongzheng-marked example of the same form in the Tianjin Arts Museum, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Treasures of 5000 Years, Cultural Relics from Tianjin City in China, Japan, 1985, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 44. Compare also a smaller square-section Guan-type vase in the Zande Lou Collection of similar inspiration but without the splayed foot or everted mouth found on the present vase, included in the exhibition, Qing Imperial Monochromes, the Zande Lou Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 56-57, no. 11. A Yongzheng-marked Guan-type vase of the same form but slightly smaller in size, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 1995, lot 100; and again, 10 April 2006, lot 1614. Another slightly larger Guan-type example with more pronounced stained crackling was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 174.
Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns published in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-7, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular admiration of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from his reign were made with fine Ru-style glazes. It is possible that the copy of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes made for the Yongzheng emperor was devised by the greatest of all the supervisors of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying, who first came to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was especially known for his highly successful imitation of early wares. Indeed the Jingdezhen tao lu notes that: 'His close copies of famous wares of the past were without exception worthy partners (of the originals); and his copies of every kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly matched ...' translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, p. 20.
Much of the collection inherited by the Count of Paris came directly from his royal ancestors, members of the House of Bourbon. It is likely to have been the Duke of Orleans, or his cousin Prince Henri of Orleans, the two great explorers of the family, who brought the current vase back from their travels. The family spent several periods in exile and during the Second World War the collection was sent to be housed in London, Morocco and Belgium. After the end of the war the collection was returned with Henri, 2nd Count of Paris to the family in France.
Yongzheng vases of this large size are extremely rare and the current vase stands out as an exceptional example of the Yongzheng adaptation of the Song dynasty Ru glaze.
Few Yongzheng examples of this shape have been published and they are usually found in a paler crackled grey Guan-type glaze such as the Yongzheng-marked example of the same form in the Tianjin Arts Museum, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Treasures of 5000 Years, Cultural Relics from Tianjin City in China, Japan, 1985, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 44. Compare also a smaller square-section Guan-type vase in the Zande Lou Collection of similar inspiration but without the splayed foot or everted mouth found on the present vase, included in the exhibition, Qing Imperial Monochromes, the Zande Lou Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 56-57, no. 11. A Yongzheng-marked Guan-type vase of the same form but slightly smaller in size, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 1995, lot 100; and again, 10 April 2006, lot 1614. Another slightly larger Guan-type example with more pronounced stained crackling was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 174.
Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns published in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-7, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.
The Yongzheng emperor appears to have had particular admiration of these Ru wares and a number of vessels from his reign were made with fine Ru-style glazes. It is possible that the copy of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes made for the Yongzheng emperor was devised by the greatest of all the supervisors of the Imperial Kilns, Tang Ying, who first came to the kilns as resident assistant in 1728. Tang Ying was especially known for his highly successful imitation of early wares. Indeed the Jingdezhen tao lu notes that: 'His close copies of famous wares of the past were without exception worthy partners (of the originals); and his copies of every kind of well-known glaze were without exception cleverly matched ...' translated by R. Kerr in Chinese Ceramics - porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, p. 20.