Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A RARE CHINESE PALE CAFE-AU-LAIT OGEE-SHAPED BOWL
SIX-CHARACTER QIANLONG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1736-95

The circular waisted bowl raised on a short straight foot, the exterior decorated with an even pale brown glaze complementing the white-glazed interior, the base also white with an underglaze-blue reign mark in zhuanshu script, 15.5cm.

Provenance: formerly with Marchant, London; purchased from D & M Freedman, London, 17th February 2010, a copy of the invoice is available.

The type of glaze known as café-au-lait, or 'milky coffee', is technically complex to achieve and was only mastered in the Yongzheng period (1723-35). It involves the use of iron oxide in the glaze, a pigment that can yield an extraordinary variety of tones including black, green, red and yellow, depending on its concentration and the conditions in the kiln, particularly the reduction atmosphere regulating the oxidisation process during firing. The taste for the simplicity of these single-tone glazes has a long-standing history in Chinese ceramic production dating back to the Song period. It became particularly popular during the early Qing dynasty, especially during the reigns of the Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong. The sophisticated court taste of the time valued it for the apparent simplicity of its appearance belying the virtuosity required in its production. The use of a café-au-lait glaze on ogee-shaped bowls is scarce, making the present lot a rarity. There is closely related pair from the Percival David Foundation in the British Museum, London, accession nos.PDF,A.572 and PDF,A.573. Another pair is in the Christina Loke Balsara Collection, illustrated in L Legeza's article 'The Grace of Eighteenth Century Chingtechen Monochromes' in Arts of Asia, November-December 1979, pp.95-6, nos.14 and 15. A further pair and a single bowl from the Zhuyuetang Collection are illustrated in Shimmering Colours: Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhuyuetang Collection, nos.152 and 151.

清乾隆 米黃釉束腰碗
《大清乾隆年製》篆書款
來源：倫敦馬錢特古董店舊藏，其後於2010年2月17日購於倫敦D & M Freedman 古董店（附發票複印件）。