A GE-TYPE TRIPOD CENSER, QING DYNASTY
A GE-TYPE TRIPOD CENSER, QING DYNASTY
Expert's note:
The distinctive double network of crackles seen on the present vessel is traditionally known in China as jinsi tiexian (金丝铁线), literally 'golden threads and iron wires', one of the most celebrated characteristics associated with Ge-type wares. The term describes the interplay between the larger, darker crackles, likened to iron wires, and the finer golden-brown lines running between them, compared to threads of gold. Originally resulting from differences in the contraction of body and glaze during cooling, this technical phenomenon was deliberately cultivated and transformed into one of the most sophisticated decorative effects in Chinese monochrome ceramics.
China, 1644-1912. Well potted with deep cylindrical sides supported on three short feet, covered overall save for the center of the base in a thick, lustrous bluish-gray glaze suffused with a dense network of crackles of varying sizes, the larger lines of dark gray tone contrasting with finer golden-brown crackles, forming the characteristic 'golden threads and iron wires' pattern. The unglazed center of the base reveals the brown-washed ware.
Provenance: From an important Spanish private collection, acquired in the 1970s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear, expected firing irregularities including a firing crack and kiln grit to the interior, few burst bubbles, and dark spots. A minute glaze loss to one foot
Weight: 782 g
Dimensions: Diameter 11.4 cm
Ge ware occupied a privileged place in Qing connoisseurship, when celebrated Song dynasty ceramics were avidly collected, studied, and emulated. This taste found particularly accomplished expression during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns, when both the imperial workshops and private kilns produced numerous interpretations of the revered Ge glaze. The present tripod censer belongs to this revival tradition. Its compact archaistic form and soft bluish-gray glaze, suffused with an irregular network of dark and golden-brown crackles, consciously evoke the qualities for which Ge ware had long been admired. Such vessels were not necessarily intended as exact copies of Song prototypes, but rather as sophisticated Qing reinterpretations through which the ceramic language of antiquity was preserved and renewed.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related guan-type tripod censer of cylindrical form, 10.4 cm diameter, dated to the Qing dynasty, approx. 1700-1800, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number B60P2057.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's London, 19 July 2018, lot 316
Price: GBP 10,625 or approx.
EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small guan-type crackle-glazed tripod censer, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related glaze with dark gray and light brown crackles. Note the slightly smaller size (8 cm) and different form.
Buyer's Premium
30%
A GE-TYPE TRIPOD CENSER, QING DYNASTY
Expert's note:
The distinctive double network of crackles seen on the present vessel is traditionally known in China as jinsi tiexian (金丝铁线), literally 'golden threads and iron wires', one of the most celebrated characteristics associated with Ge-type wares. The term describes the interplay between the larger, darker crackles, likened to iron wires, and the finer golden-brown lines running between them, compared to threads of gold. Originally resulting from differences in the contraction of body and glaze during cooling, this technical phenomenon was deliberately cultivated and transformed into one of the most sophisticated decorative effects in Chinese monochrome ceramics.
China, 1644-1912. Well potted with deep cylindrical sides supported on three short feet, covered overall save for the center of the base in a thick, lustrous bluish-gray glaze suffused with a dense network of crackles of varying sizes, the larger lines of dark gray tone contrasting with finer golden-brown crackles, forming the characteristic 'golden threads and iron wires' pattern. The unglazed center of the base reveals the brown-washed ware.
Provenance: From an important Spanish private collection, acquired in the 1970s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear, expected firing irregularities including a firing crack and kiln grit to the interior, few burst bubbles, and dark spots. A minute glaze loss to one foot
Weight: 782 g
Dimensions: Diameter 11.4 cm
Ge ware occupied a privileged place in Qing connoisseurship, when celebrated Song dynasty ceramics were avidly collected, studied, and emulated. This taste found particularly accomplished expression during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns, when both the imperial workshops and private kilns produced numerous interpretations of the revered Ge glaze. The present tripod censer belongs to this revival tradition. Its compact archaistic form and soft bluish-gray glaze, suffused with an irregular network of dark and golden-brown crackles, consciously evoke the qualities for which Ge ware had long been admired. Such vessels were not necessarily intended as exact copies of Song prototypes, but rather as sophisticated Qing reinterpretations through which the ceramic language of antiquity was preserved and renewed.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related guan-type tripod censer of cylindrical form, 10.4 cm diameter, dated to the Qing dynasty, approx. 1700-1800, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number B60P2057.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's London, 19 July 2018, lot 316
Price: GBP 10,625 or approx.
EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small guan-type crackle-glazed tripod censer, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related glaze with dark gray and light brown crackles. Note the slightly smaller size (8 cm) and different form.
Buyer's Premium
30%
