A rare copper-red-glazed bottle vase

Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

清雍正 霽紅釉長頸瓶 青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款

Provenance:
Almira Goodsell Rockefeller (1844-1920), wife of William A. Rockefeller Jr. (1841-1922), and thence by descent, by repute
An American private collection

來源：
傳威廉·埃弗里·小洛克菲勒（1870-1922年）之妻，阿爾米拉·古德賽爾·洛克菲勒夫人（1844-1920年）舊藏，後由其家族繼承
美國私人收藏

Almira Geraldine Rockefeller (1844-1920), born Almira G. Goodsell, married in 1864 William Avery Rockefeller Jr. (1841-1922), a prominent member of the Rockefeller family. The Rockefeller dynasty dominated American industrial, political and financial businesses for over one hundred and forty years and is regarded as one of the most powerful families in US history, controlling one of the world's largest fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Almira Rockefeller was very active with numerous philanthropic activities as well as in War Relief work.

Copper-red glazes, which had not been revisited since the Ming dynasty, were not only successfully fired but technically improved during the Kangxi period renowned for its langyao and 'peach bloom' group. These may have been produced under the supervision of Zang Yingxuan and Lang Tingji, who demonstrated a commitment to precision and technological innovation, which would determine the subsequent history of Qing Imperial porcelain production; see J.Hay, 'The Diachronics of Early Qing Visual and Material Culture', in The Qing Formation in World Historical Time, Cambridge, 2004, p.318.

The present vase, with its combination of the compressed globular bottle vase form and use of the copper-red glaze, is a development of the Yongzheng reign, celebrated for its innovative forms and technical virtuosity demanded by the emperor, a highly discerning connoisseur of art.

The form is related to that of a bottle vase decorated in clair-de-lune glaze, Yongzheng mark and of the period, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (acc.no.C.9-1948); as well as that shown in outline, recorded by Geng Baochang in Ming Qing Ciqi Jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p.236, fig.9. The compressed globular bottle vase form continued into subsequent reigns as exemplified in a copper-red-glazed compressed bottle vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2013, lot 3506.

阿爾米拉·古德賽爾·洛克菲勒（1844-1920年）為威廉·埃弗里·小洛克菲勒（1870-1922年）之妻，兩人於1864年結為夫婦。威廉是聞名於世的洛克菲勒家族成員之一，其家族在美國的工業、政治和銀行業等領域佔有重要的一席之地。洛克菲勒家族在美國佔有舉足輕重的地位超過一百四十年，並在十九世紀末到二十世紀初之間控制着全美國的石油資源，而且在文化、藝術、公共事業方面都做出巨大貢獻。阿爾米拉對許多慈善和戰後救濟工作做出了積極的貢獻。

銅紅釉燒造對技術要求極高，明代宣德以後因種種原因，燒造逐漸減少，至明晚期幾乎停燒，直到清代康熙晚期才再度興盛起來，當時清朝廷派駐景德鎮的督陶官臧應選及郎廷極督理窯務時所燒製的御窯瓷釉色品種甚多，尤其是紅釉瓷，包括豇豆紅、郎窯紅和霽紅釉等，反映出當時的燒造技術已十分成熟，更多論述可參閱J.Hay，《The Diachronics of Early Qing Visual and Material Culture》一文，刊於《The Qing Formation in World Historical Time》，劍橋，2004年，頁318。

單色釉以其釉色及釉質取勝，所以對窯火溫度的掌握必須非常嚴格，呈色才能控制自如，可見燒製難度極高。雍正一朝所製的單色釉可說是最為成功的，無論從其胎質、釉色、造型還是藝術風格等均無可挑剔，水平之高可說是達到了歷史的高峰。此瓶完全符合雍正皇帝講究簡約而含蓄的審美眼光，或為雍正皇帝親自授意景德鎮御窯廠燒造。

本瓶造型雅緻，比例協調，釉色均勻，為清朝御窯廠銅紅釉再度盛行後又一佳作。雍正朝在瓷器造型方面進行了多方面的創新，像本拍品的荸薺扁瓶除了見直口長頸者，亦有見頸肩部凸有弦紋的品種，本器器型與耿寶昌先生書中的雍正器型示意圖的荸薺瓶相近，見《明清瓷器鑒定》，香港，1993年，頁236，圖9；類似的造型也見劍橋菲茨威廉博物館藏一清雍正帶款天藍釉荸薺瓶，博物館編號C.9-1948；雍正紅釉荸薺瓶的例子傳世品中似乎不為多見，因此更顯得本器彌足珍貴，唯香港佳士得曾售出一清乾隆紅釉荸薺瓶可資參考，2013年11月27日，拍品編號3506。