13.5 cm. (5 3/8 in.) wide

Ru wares is a famous and extremely rare type of Chinese pottery from the Song dynasty, produced for the imperial court only for a brief period, with only limited pieces survive today in museum and private collections. Ru wares were regarded by scholars as one of the five great kilns of the Song dynasty, which were reserved for the imperial court.
The present lot is an extremely rare and exceptional example of the Yongzheng adaptation of the Song dynasty Ru glaze. Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs for its simplicity featuring an even creamy and bluish glaze accentuated by fine craquelure, and were imitated on porcelain as early as the 15th century. The elegant concept of Ru wares no doubt is the style heavily revered by the Yongzheng emperor and his imperial court in the 18th century, evident by the number of vessels with similar Ru-type glazes. It is possible that the revival of Song dynasty Ru ware glazes or Ru types, during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor was devised by well-known imperial supervisor, 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, and it was his duty to recreate the famous Ru glaze reinterpreted in the Yongzheng style.
Compare a related incense burner in the Qing Court collection, but of Ge-type glaze, without imperial seal mark and with a pair of beast-shaped handles instead dated to the Yongzheng period, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p.250, no.228. Compare also three other Ru-type glaze examples with Yongzheng six-character seal mark and of the period also in the Qing Court collection, illustrated in ibid., pp.234-236, nos.212, 213 and 214.

Provenance:
An important Japanese Tea Master private collection, Kyoto

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,500,000 - 2,000,000
USD: 192,300 - 256,400

Auction Result:
HKD: --